The Guangdong Provincial Development and Reform Commission recently announced that 1 million yuan ($138,000) will be allocated this year to funding a preliminary study into the feasibility of constructing a new Shenzhen-Zhuhai sea-crossing bridge.

Positioned between the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge and the Shenzhen-Zhongshan Link, the new bridge is designed to span about 46.5 kilometers and will have four rail tracks, making it the first sea-crossing road-rail bridge in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

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The Shenzhen-Zhongshan Link, which opened in 2024, has shortened the travel time between Shenzhen and Zhuhai to about 70 minutes by vehicle, while the new Shenzhen-Zhuhai bridge is expected to further shorten the travel time to around 30 minutes.

News about a possible Shenzhen-Zhuhai bridge has been circulating for many years, but as yet there has been no official confirmation that the project will proceed or timeline set for its construction, as various challenges are still to be dealt with — such as technical challenges, financial investment arrangements, and environmental impact assessments.

However, market expectations have been reignited, with the megaproject having been frequently mentioned in several government plans recently.

At a press conference in December, the Ministry of Transport highlighted the Shenzhen-Zhuhai link as a key project under consideration, and said that efforts were underway to accelerate the preliminary work. The Shenzhen transportation authority also said it would advance the preliminary work this year, and the Zhuhai municipal government stated it would include the high-speed railway between Shenzhen and Zhuhai in the 15th Five-Year Plan.

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“With the rapid development of the Greater Bay Area, the population on both sides of the Pearl River Delta has increased substantially, and the interactions and exchanges (relating to) the economy and culture will further intensify,” said Chen Dejian, an engineer with the China Railway Fifth Survey and Design Institute Group.

The Shenzhen-Zhongshan Link has become a major transportation artery with an average daily traffic volume of over 100,000 vehicles, and congestion is common during holidays.

Chen believes it is imperative to build a direct cross-sea passage connecting Shenzhen and Zhuhai to promote the high-speed development of the Greater Bay Area.

Song Ding, a senior researcher at the China Development Institute, believes a new Shenzhen-Zhuhai link, as a road-rail passage, will have a profound impact.

Song said he estimates that the economic, trade, social, and cultural exchanges between the two sides will become more frequent and closer once the new link opens, injecting new vitality into the coordinated development of the Greater Bay Area.

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Compared to the other two cross-sea bridges, the railway design is the highlight of plans for this new bridge. According to an official announcement earlier, the plan is to provide both intercity and high-speed railway systems.

The high-speed rail will connect to the national high-speed railway network, while the intercity railway will serve the needs of commuters within the urban cluster.