Guangzhou's Metro Line 18, which has been under construction since 2017, may be extended 60 kilometers from Zhongshan south, making possible subway rides from Xiangzhou district to downtown in the provincial capital.

The Zhuhai Public Resources Trading Center posted a website notice Aug 20 calling for bids on preliminary research. Investigated will be station locations, environmentally sensitive sites, passenger volume forecasts, investment and financing, and construction and operation modes for the cross-city metro line.

Already, the cost is estimated at 20 billion yuan ($2.8 billion).

Subway. [Photo/WeChat account: zhizhuxia0756]

Line 18 stations are being built at Guangzhou East Railway Station, Xiancun, Pazhou West Area, Shiliugang, Shaxi, Nancun Wanbo, Panyu Square, Hengli, and Wanqingsha. The new line spans Tianhe, Haizhu, Panyu, and Nansha districts with a designed speed of 160 km per hour. The intracity trip from Nansha's Wanqingsha Town to Tianhe will take merely half an hour once the line comes into operation in 2020.

Wanqingsha Town in Guangzhou's deep south is located east of the border between Foshan and Zhongshan, a 1.5-hour drive (80 km) from Gongbei in Zhuhai.

The route will be extended to Zhongshan under an agreement signed on Dec 11, 2018 and in the future stretch not only to Zhuhai, but to Baiyun International Airport.