The Pearl River Delta Metropolitan Region Intercity Railway System (, abbreviated as PRDIR) is a regional

higher-speed rail Higher-speed rail (HrSR) is used to describe inter-city passenger rail services that have top speeds of more than conventional rail but are not high enough to be called high-speed rail services. The term is also used by planners to identify the ...

and

suburban rail Commuter rail or suburban rail is a Passenger train, passenger rail service that primarily operates within a metropolitan area, connecting Commuting, commuters to a Central business district, central city from adjacent suburbs or commuter town ...

network being gradually constructed in the

Pearl River Delta The Pearl River Delta Metropolitan Region is the low-lying area surrounding the Pearl River estuary, where the Pearl River flows into the South China Sea. Referred to as the Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area in official documents, ...

( Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area), People's Republic of China. The project's goal is to have every major urban center in the Greater Bay Area to be within one-hour travel by rail to

Guangzhou Guangzhou, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Canton or Kwangchow, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Guangdong Provinces of China, province in South China, southern China. Located on the Pearl River about nor ...

. On March 16, 2005, the State Council approved plans for a regional high-speed commuter rail network for the Jingjinji,

Yangtze River Delta The Yangtze Delta or Yangtze River Delta (YRD), once known as the Shanghai Economic Zone, is a megalopolis generally comprising the Wu-speaking areas of Shanghai, southern Jiangsu, northern Zhejiang, southern Anhui. The area lies in the he ...

and the Pearl River Delta. According to the plan, by 2020, the network will have a total route mileage of about . In September 2009, the plan was expanded to of routes split up into 23 lines. In the long term vision network length will reach by 2030. By then the network will provide basic coverage to the Pearl River Delta region. The Suishen ICR, Guanghui ICR and Guangfozhao ICR accept

Alipay Alipay () is a third-party mobile and online payment platform, established in Hangzhou, China in February 2004 by Alibaba Group and its founder Jack Ma. In 2015, Alipay moved its headquarters to Pudong, Shanghai, although its parent company ...

, avoiding the need to purchase tickets in advance.

Operational lines

The system currently has seven lines.

Guangzhu ICR

The Guangzhou–Zhuhai Intercity Railway or Guangzhu Intercity Railway is a 116 km dedicated, grade-separated passenger railway linking New Guangzhou Station in Panyu, Guangzhou, and Zhuhai Airport in Zhuhai, via Shunde, Zhongshan and Jiangmen. Operation began in 2011.

Suishen ICR

The Guangzhou–Shenzhen Intercity Railway, also known as the Suishen Intercity Railway () is a regional rapid railway line that runs roughly along the east bank of the Pearl River connecting the major cities of

Dongguan Dongguan,; pinyin: alternately romanized via Cantonese as Tungkun, is a prefecture-level city in central Guangdong Province, China. An important industrial city in the Pearl River Delta, Dongguan borders the provincial capital of Guangzhou t ...

, and

Shenzhen Shenzhen is a prefecture-level city in the province of Guangdong, China. A Special economic zones of China, special economic zone, it is located on the east bank of the Pearl River (China), Pearl River estuary on the central coast of Guangdong ...

. It will use CRH6 EMUs with a top speed of . Operation began on 15 December 2019.

Zhuji ICR

The Zhuji Intercity Railway is a high-speed railway connecting Gongbei Subdistrict in Zhuhai with

Zhuhai Jinwan Airport Zhuhai Jinwan Airport , (Named Zhuhai Sanzao Airport ( zh, s=珠海三灶机场) prior to 10 January 2013), is the primary airport serving the city of Zhuhai in China’s Guangdong province. It is located some southwest of the Zhuhai city cent ...

via

Hengqin Hengqin (, ) is an island that lies mostly in Zhuhai, a prefecture-level city and special economic zone in Guangdong Province of the People's Republic of China. It has a population of about 3,000. Parts of Hengqin are leased to Macau by the S ...

. Phase 1 started operation on 18 August 2020. Phase 2 from to Zhuhai Airport opened in 3 March 2024.

Guanghui ICR

The Guanghui Intercity Railway or Guanghui Urban Railway is a 24 station, 139.8 km long, regional rapid railway line that connects

Huizhou Huizhou ( zh, c= ) is a city in east-central Guangdong Province, China, forty-three miles north of Hong Kong. Huizhou borders the provincial capital of Guangzhou to the west, Shenzhen and Dongguan to the southwest, Shaoguan to the north, Hey ...

. The line was originally planned to use subway type cars with Siemens technology. However it was plans changed partway through construction to use 8 car CRH6 EMUs capable of running up to . The line started construction in 2009 and was expected to open in late 2013. Construction was completed in June 2013 and test runs began in 2014, but the first segment of the line, from Xiaojinkou-Changping East did not open until 30 March 2016. On 23 January 2024, operation of Guanghui ICR has transferred from CR Guangzhou to Guangdong Intercity company.

Guangzhao ICR

The Guangzhao Intercity Railway or Fozhao Urban Railway is a 16 station long regional rapid railway line. It connects Guangzhou to

Zhaoqing Zhaoqing ( zh, c=肇庆), alternately romanized as Shiuhing, is a prefecture-level city in Guangdong Province, China. As of the 2020 census, its population was 4,113,594, with 1,553,109 living in the built-up (or metro) area made of Duanz ...

, via

Foshan Foshan (, ; Chinese: 佛山) is a prefecture-level city in central Guangdong Province, China. The entire prefecture covers and had a population of 9,498,863 as of the 2020 census. The city is part of the western side of the Pearl River Delta m ...

. Operation began on 30 March 2016. On 23 January 2024, operation of Guangzhao ICR has transferred from CR Guangzhou to Guangdong Intercity company.

Guangqing ICR

Guangzhou East Ring intercity railway

Lines under construction

Guangfo Circular ICR

Ring service around

, mostly making use of trackage from other Metropolitan Region Intercity Railway Lines and existing freight railways. A new section under construction, known as the Guangfo Link, is a 35 km long railway line that connects

Guangzhou South Railway Station Guangzhounan (Guangzhou South) railway station () is located in Shibi, Panyu District, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China. It is a large modern railway station, rail terminal south of central Guangzhou. For a brief time it was Asia's largest ...

to Foshan West Railway Station. It has a top speed of and will use 6 car CRH6 EMUs capable of running up to 2.5-minute frequencies. It is expected to start construction in late 2012 and completed in 2016 or 2017. This has now since been delayed to 2027.

Shenzhen–Dayawan ICR

An underground

regional rail Regional rail is a public transport, public rail transport service that operates between towns and cities. These trains operate with more stops than inter-city rail, and unlike commuter rail, operate beyond the limits of urban areas, connectin ...

way connecting

and Huiyang District in southern

from

Shenzhen Bao'an International Airport Shenzhen Bao'an International Airport — formerly Shenzhen Huangtian Airport — is an international airport serving the city of Shenzhen in South Central China’s Guangdong province. It is on the east bank of the Pearl River in Bao'an Di ...

to Shenzhen Pingshan railway station. It started construction in 2022 and is expected to complete in late 2026.

Shenhui ICR