Recently, Changsha Municipal Government issued the “Implementation Opinions on Comprehensively Implementing the Strategy of Building China into a Country with Strong Transportation Network for the Modernization of Changsha”. Four short-term goals were defined as well as the medium-term and long-term goals: Changsha aims to basically realize the modernization of transportation by 2035, and comprehensively realize the modernization of transportation by the middle of 21^st century, laying out a grand blueprint for the transportation development of Changsha.
 
As a satellite city of Changsha, what kind of role will Ningxiang play in this grand strategic planning of transportation development?

01 To build an international aviation hub

We will work faster to advance the renovation and expansion work of Changsha Airport. Efforts will be made to build a line to link Changsha South Railway Station and Changsha Huahuang International Airport so as to establish an integrated transportation hub with aviation, high-speed railways, rail transits and magnetic levitation trains connected. We will strive to construct domestic express line (trunk line) network, strengthen domestic branch line network and develop airport economic industrial cluster. Besides, we will make a plan for the construction of another airport and reserve space for expansion. We will speed up the planning of general aviation, and promote the construction of general aviation airports in Kaihui, Pingtang, Ningxiang and Liuyang.

02  To build a national railway hub

Efforts will be made to build more railways and bring them into connection. Tracks and spaces will be reserved for ultrahigh speed railways and railway facilities. We will speed up the construction of Changsha West Railway Station into a high-speed rail hub station.

The comprehensive passenger transport hub of Ningxiang West Station will be built in Jinghuapu Town, Ningxiang City, which includes Ningxiang West High-speed Railway Station, railway station buildings and a highway passenger station, covering an area of 3.6 hectares. As the main transportation hub of Ningxiang connecting with other places, it provides three-dimensional transportation of high-speed railway, highway and urban traffic for passengers on the basis of Changde-Yiyang-Changsha high-speed railway and Ningxiang West Station,
03 To build a national highway transportation hub

We will make the road network more connected, optimize the layout of the road network in line with the goal of "one-hour commuting in urban area and two-hour travel within the urban agglomeration". The expansion work of Changsha-Yiyang expressway will be finished and the expressways of Ningxiang-Shaoshan and Jiangbei-Ganshan will be built and open to traffic. We will optimize the expressway network and strive to bring some key transportation projects into the national or provincial expressway network planning. The connection between expressway and urban road system will be strengthened and entrances and exits of some expressways will be added or upgraded. We will make partial adjustment of the national or provincial highway network and improve the national and provincial road lines in urban areas. With the construction of south line and north line as the focus, we will raise standards for national and provincial roads below grade II that fail to meet the technical standards. We will build “four good rural roads”, fully implement “road chief system”, improve the quality of rural roads and build them into a network. Efforts will be made to improve the security facilities of roads and all the dangerous roads and bridges will be repaired.

04  To build public transport networks with rail transit as its core

We will fully implement public transport-oriented development mode, gradually carry out a new round of construction of rail transit and improve the urban public transport system with rail transit as the core, conventional public transport as the main body and other means of transportation as the supplement. We will assist in the formulation of rail transit plan for Changsha-Zhuzhou-Xiangtan megalopolis, and build a passenger transport network of intercity railway.

According to the recent sketch map of Rail Transport Planning of Changsha-Zhuzhou-Xiangtan megalopolis (July 2020), Changsha-Ningxiang line starting from Ningxiang High-speed Railway Station via Fenglin Road (Better Life Mall in Meixi Lake), passes through the main districts of Changsha to Changsha South High-speed Railway Station, with a total length of 65 kilometers.