This has been a big week for birthdays. In addition to the CCP centenary yesterday, the high-speed railway line between Beijing and Shanghai turned 10 on Wednesday, while the week got of to a start with the 10th birthday of our pride and joy, Nanjing South Railway Station.
But Nanjing South perhaps might have never become a reality. And at the heart of the matter was a 3-year-long disagreement between the Ministry of Railways and the Nanjing urban planning authorities.
It was in December of 1994 that the State Council of China approved a pre-feasibility study for the Beijing-Shanghai high-speed railway. In its line selection, the Ministry proposed a “North Line Plan”, in which the high-speed line would cross the Yangtze River by means of a tunnel in the north of Nanjing at Shangyuan Men.
Nanjing disagreed. As far back as 1986, Nanjing had already formulated plans to develop southward and decided to build a large-scale station to the south of the downtown area. The city even reserved planning space for the new Nanjing South Railway Station.
But the Ministry maintained its preference for the northern route, arguing it would easier for it to link up with the existing lines. As further support for its position on the matter and wrongly believing the centre of Nanjing to be in the north of the city, the Ministry also cited the fact that railway stations in Nanjing had historically been located in the north.
Countering that in any city in the country, the effect of railways on driving urban development is very obvious, Nanjing pushed further for its southern plan. And although Nanjing Railway Station has Xuanwu Lake to its the front and the landscape is undeniably beautiful, there was simply no room for expansion.
The impasse was to last into the new millennium. But then, in 2001 was issued the “Notice on Reserving Land for the Beijing-Shanghai High-speed Railway”. One side would have to back down.
In the face of Nanjing’s persistence, and understanding that the driving force for the development of the southern part of the city was already very strong, the Ministry finally changed its mind and accepted that Nanjing had been right all along. In a meeting held on 13 June, 2003, between the Ministry and the Nanjing Municipal Government, the Ministry officially abandoned its proposal and accepted Nanjing’s plan for the southern route.
The argument may have been won but many more years of planning were to follow. On 9 January, 2008, Nanjing South Railway Station officially entered the construction phase, being also the first part of the Jiangsu section of the Beijing-Shanghai high-speed railway.
Designed to imitate a Ming Dynasty palace building, Nanjing South Railway Station opened to passengers on 28 June, 2011, at a cost of ¥30 billion.
And it was money well spent. For the economic development that the government promised the station would bring is today all around and plain to see.
China (Nanjing) Software Valley is located just a few minutes from Nanjing South. Therein, over the past decade, a multitude of big names in the IT industry have established their Nanjing base, or in some cases, their national base.
As The Paper reported this week, in 2020, the Valley realised ¥217 billion of software business revenue, accounting for 36 percent of the Nanjing total, in the process providing work for more than 300,000 employees.
Happy 10th birthday, Nanjing South. And thank you.
