In 2014, the Guangzhou Municipal Planning Bureau revealed that it was studying the extension of Line 8 through to Jianggao station, and then along National Highway 107 to Guangzhou North Railway Station in Huadu District. This section was known as the North-North Extension of Line 8 as it was the north extension of the first North Extension project of Line 8 that brought the line up to Jiaoxin station. The project was approved by the National Development and Reform Commission in late March 2017. However, project was somewhat controversial as experts and the public have expressed doubts about the extension plan from an operations perspective, as with the completion of the North-North Extension, the total length of Line 8 from Guangzhou North Station to Wanshengwei station will exceed 50 kilometers. Being that the maximum operating speed of Line 8 is only 80 kilometers per hour and the entire line has moderate stop spacings, it was questioned whether a normal subway line should be this long.[3] In response to these concerns, planners decided to reserve for the line to be split at Jiangfu Station, leaving the Jiangfu to Guangzhou North Station section to spun off from Line 8 extended south as an independently operated new line also known as Line 24.[4][5]
The latest plans for Line 24 show the line running from Guangzhou North to Jiangfu Stations, taking over most of the North-North Extension of Line 8 project outright, and continuing south to Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall station. The first section of Line 24 is planned to start construction in 2021 and be completed in 2025.[2] In the future Line 24 will be extended further south to Shixi station.[6][7]
However, according to the latest environmental impact assessment announcement, Line 24 is used as an extension of Line 8 to announce the line design information. The part to the north of Jiangfu Station is taken as part of the further north extension of Line 8, and the part to the south of Jiangfu Station is taken as the "Subline of the North Extension of Line 8". Even so, the line specifications of these two parts are still configured according to the separate Line 24.[9][10][11][12]
GBA
Guangzhou Metro
Foshan Metro