The original Guangdong-Han Railway started in Wuchang and ended in Guangzhou, with a total length of 1.096 km. 6.5438+0.900 started in July, and the progress was slow. By August of 65,438+0,903, only 49 kilometers of Guangzhou-Sanshui branch line had been built. 19 1 1 year to complete the Changsha-Zhuzhou-Xiangtan section; 1965438+Guangzhou-Shaoguan section completed in June 2006; 1965438+ Wuchang-Changsha section was completed in September 2008. The section from Zhuzhou to Shaoguan is 456 kilometers long. Due to the arduous project along the line and the shortage of funds, construction has not started for a long time. Work was not started until 1929, and it was completed in April 1936. At this point, the Guangdong-Han Railway was opened to traffic.
After the founding of New China, the Beijing-Guangzhou Railway has gradually undergone technological transformation, mainly including replacing rails, strengthening bridges, building Zhengzhou Yellow River Railway Bridge, improving communication and signal equipment, strengthening stations in various sections, building new passenger hub stations in Beijing and Guangzhou, and establishing hub stations in Shijiazhuang, Zhengzhou, Wuhan, Changsha and Guangzhou.
Due to the surge in traffic volume, 1955 started the double-track construction in February, and 1988 completed the Hengguang section in February, all of which were completed (the section from Pingshan to Lechang was straightened, Dayaoshan tunnel was built, and the original Panshan line was abandoned, which was also the longest railway tunnel in China at that time). All passenger trains and freight trains are pulled by electric locomotives. The bus travel time from Beijing to Guangzhou has been shortened from more than 90 hours to 2 1 hour.
On May 26th, 20 14, the Yellow River Bridge of Zhengjiao Intercity Railway was completed, and the trains running on Beijing-Guangzhou Railway switched to this bridge, and the old Yellow River Railway Bridge, which had been used for 54 years, was officially retired.
Historical background
In modern China, the government attached great importance to the transportation of salt and grain. Jiangnan is rich, and the calendar is the granary of the imperial court. In the early Qing Dynasty, the imperial court collected 4 million stones of grain every year, about 280 million kilograms. How can hundreds of millions of kilograms of grain be transported to Beijing 1000 kilometers away?
At that time, land transportation was inconvenient, so we had to choose waterway, that is, by means of wind and boat, we transported food to Beijing through the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal. This is the grain transportation that has lasted for hundreds of years.
In the mid-Qing Dynasty, the siltation of the Grand Canal made grain transportation partly by sea, but the appearance of railways in the late Qing Dynasty completely buried grain transportation. Laojinghan Railway is one of the earliest railways that ended the history of water transportation. Following the tracks and the whistle, China is accelerating towards industrial civilization.
Sixteen years of tortuous examination and approval
According to historical records, Liu Mingchuan, the governor of Zhili, was the first Qing court official to propose the construction of the Beijing-Han Railway. He was playing at 1880 and suggested "urgent railway repair".
Liu Mingchuan proposed that the radiation should be built with Beijing as the center first, and once from Shandong to Qingjiangpu (the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal is located in Jiangsu); Once from Henan to Hankou; Yitong Shengjing; Pass through Gansu. He thinks that the railway from Beijing to Qingjiangpu should be built first. But it was not approved by the Qing court.
Nine years later (1889), Zhang Zhidong, Governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, invited to build the railway from Lugouqiao to Hankou Town, Hubei Province, which was the predecessor of the railway-Lu Han Railway. The Qing court approved this proposal and rebuked the opposition for being "bigoted and prejudiced and out of keeping with the times." Zhang Zhidong and Li Hongzhang, representatives of the Westernization School, were ordered to prepare for the construction, and the Qing government planned to allocate 2 million yuan each year for the preparation. At the same time, it is stated that it will not borrow foreign debts and will not buy West Rail. From 65438 to 0890, Zhang Zhidong presided over the construction of Hubei Hanyang Iron Works, which was needed by Luhan Railway.
189 1 year, Russia infiltrated the northeast, and the Qing court gave priority to the construction of the Kanto Railway (Middle East Railway). However, in the face of modern engineering construction, its embarrassed finance is even more stretched, and it has to transfer the funds used for Luhan Railway to the Kanto Railway Special Fund. The Luhan Railway then came to a standstill.
1893, hanyang iron works was completed and put into operation. Two years later, Zhang Zhidong wrote: "There are many places to open railways in China, and Luhan should be the first one along the way. This road is moderate in north, south, east and west, which is convenient for introduction and distribution. It is actually a plan for all roads. " At the end of 1895, the Qing court decided to restart the construction process of Lu Han railway, but in desperation, only merchants were allowed to collect shares.
Jia, former party secretary of China Railway Museum, said, 1896, the Qing court set up a railway corporation and decided to start with Luhan Railway before operating the Suzhou-Shanghai Railway and the Yuehan Railway.
North section: the construction process of Beijing-Han railway
Han Jing Railway runs from Beijing to Hankou, Hubei Province, which was originally called "Luhan Railway" (Lugou Bridge to Hankou). After the Sino-Japanese War of 1895 (1895), on July 9 of the same year, that is, the 94th day after the signing of treaty of shimonoseki, Emperor Guangxu issued an imperial edict, declaring that "it is time for our ministers to rest on their laurels" and put forward six "practical strategies for saving the country", and railway construction was listed as the first item. On the same day, Zhang Zhidong, the governor of Liangjiang, immediately recalled the Qing government, pointing out that "there is an urgent need to build a railway" and suggested building a Lu Han railway: "There are many places to open railways in China, and Lu Han Road should be the first one.
1895 12.6 after considering the opinions of all parties, the Qing court decided to immediately start construction of two railways: Lu Han Railway and Lu Jin Railway (that is, the former Beijing-Tianjin section of Jingshan Railway and the present Beijing-Tianjin section of beijing-shanghai railway), and announced that Lu Han Railway was bounded by the Yellow River, with Zhang Zhidong in charge of the southern section and Li Hongzhang in charge of the northern section. However, the Qing court gave unequal treatment to the construction funds of Lu Han Road and Lujin Road: Lu Jin Railway can use government-run funds, but Lu Han Railway can't, and it depends on businessmen to raise funds to start it. However, Zhang Zhidong was blocked in the process of raising shares, so he had to hand over the task of building Luhan Railway to Sheng Xuanhuai and borrow money from foreign powers. Finally, Belgium obtained the loan right.
1896 10 zhili governor Wang Wenshao and Huguang governor Zhang Zhidong called for the establishment of a railway corporation, with a big bureaucrat comprador and Tianjin official Sheng Xuanhuai as supervisory ministers. The railway is 1.200 km long, and the construction plan needs more than 20 million taels of silver. It was originally planned to receive 7 million taels of merchant shares, allocate 3 million taels of official funds, borrow official funds10 million taels and borrow 20 million taels of foreign debt. The Qing government first used the allocated official funds to build the Lugouqiao-Baoding section, with a length of 13 1 km, which was built by the Shanxi-Henan Railway General Administration. February 1898 started, and 10/899 was completed and opened to traffic.
Hankou is an important land and water town in China, and connecting Hankou with Beijing has long been the coveted goal of imperialism, so countries have been fighting for it. First, the United States and Britain fell through because of "too many claims", so they negotiated with Belgium. With the support of France and Russia, Belgium signed a loan contract with a loan amount of112.5 million francs. According to the contract, the road construction project will be supervised by Belgian companies; All the required materials, except those supplied by Hanyang Iron Works, are borne by Belgian companies and enjoy tax-free treatment. During the 30-year loan period, all traffic management rights are owned by Belgian companies. This not only made China completely lose its railway sovereignty, but also suffered huge financial losses, which set an extremely bad precedent for the imperialists to use the debt relationship to plunder China's railway rights in the future.
In order to speed up the project progress, save costs and cut corners, the Belgian company resulted in extremely low line quality of the building. Just like the Yellow River Bridge, an important project also adopted a low-standard design, and the insurance period was only 15 years, which led to traffic disruption due to water damage. After Eight-Nation Alliance invaded Beijing, the French invaders extended the Luhan Railway from Lugou Bridge to the front gate of Beijing in 190 1 year, and it became the Han Jing Railway from then on.
Han Jing Railway was opened to traffic in April, 1906, with a total length of 12 15km. After the opening of the Jinghan Railway, the business is developed and the profits are rich. Under the influence of the Boxer Rebellion and the pressure of the people all over the country to reclaim the railway sovereignty, the Qing government went through many twists and turns, and finally in June 65438 +0909 65438+ 10, it allocated 5 million taels of silver to the government, borrowed 50,000 pounds from two banks, namely HSBC in Britain and Credit Suisse Bank in France, paid off the loan of Jinghan Railway and redeemed the railway. From 1927 to 1949, Beijing was renamed Beiping and Han Jing Railway was renamed Pinghan Railway. 1949 After the establishment of People's Republic of China (PRC), the name of Han Jing Railway was restored.
"27 February" strike
Beijing-Guangzhou Railway is not only the longest railway line connecting the north and south of China, but also has a glorious history of revolutionary struggle.
1922 In April, initiated by Changxindian Workers' Club, the preparatory meeting of the All-China Railway Federation of Trade Unions was held, and the trade union organization of the whole railway was preliminarily rectified. At the preparatory meeting of 1923 1.5, the Draft Constitution of Han Jing Railway Federation of Trade Unions was drafted, and the inaugural meeting of the Federation of Trade Unions was formally held in February of 1. The establishment of the Federation of Trade Unions was completely open. The news was published in various newspapers and reported to Zhao Jixian, then director of the Railway Bureau. Present at the inaugural meeting were 65 representatives of the Jinghan Railway Trade Union Branch, and more than 200 guests from trade unions, education circles and the press from all over the country. They all gathered in Zhengzhou.
The establishment of the Jinghan Railway Trade Union Federation shocked the imperialists and feudal warlords. Warlord Wu instigated Zhao Jixian, the railway director, to intimidate the director of Zhengzhou Public Security Bureau. The Preparatory Committee of the Federation of Trade Unions still decided to hold the meeting as scheduled. On the morning of February 0, Wu ordered Zhengzhou to implement emergency martial law, and arranged armed police on the street to prevent delegates and guests from entering the venue. The delegates were furious, shouted slogans, finally broke through the tight encirclement, rushed into the venue, immediately set off firecrackers for a meeting, and announced the formal establishment of the Han Jing Railway Federation of Trade Unions. The delegates shouted "Long live the Han Jing Federation of Railway Trade Unions!" "Long live the victory of the working class!" The meeting didn't end until 4 pm.
In the afternoon, Wu ordered reactionary military police to surround the residence of the delegates, and guests and delegates were not allowed to walk and talk freely. The premises of the Federation of Trade Unions and Zhengzhou Branch were sealed up and occupied, and the documents of the trade unions were confiscated and destroyed. The arrogance and brutality of the warlords aroused great anger among the workers. That night, the Federation of Trade Unions held an emergency meeting and decided to announce the strike of the Jinghan Railway Federation of Trade Unions at noon on February 4. From 9: 00 am on the 4th, in less than three hours, the whole road stopped working, and all passengers, goods and military vehicles stopped driving together. After the general strike broke out, the "envoys" of the imperialist countries held an emergency meeting in Beijing, put forward a "serious warning" to the Beiyang warlord government, demanded an early resumption of traffic, and instigated the warlords to suppress the workers by force.
On February 7, Hubei Governor Xiao Yaonan sent Zhang Housheng, chief of staff, to lead two battalions to surround the Federation of Trade Unions, shoot and kill workers who resisted empty-handed, surround workers' dormitories and search for strike activists. 38 people were killed and more than 200 people were injured. Chairman of Jiang 'an Sub-branch, party member Lin Xiangqian were arrested.
After Comrade Lin Xiangqian was arrested, the enemy tied him to the telephone pole at the riverside station and forced him to go back to work. Comrade Lin Xiangqian resolutely refused. Zhang Housheng, the executioner, had a knife cut on him and asked him, "Can I go to work?" Comrade Lin Xiangqian said, "No!" Zhang ordered another seal and asked him, "Can I go to work?" Comrade Lin Xiangqian reluctantly shouted, "If you want to go to work, you must obey the orders of the Federation of Trade Unions. My head can be broken, and you can't go to work yet! " Zhang cut another knife, and the excellent party member died heroically. He died indomitable in front of the enemy for the cause of the working class, which showed the fearless spirit of the working class in China. Party member Shiyang, legal adviser of Wuhan Federation of Trade Unions, was also killed in Wuchang on June 5438+05.
In addition, workers at other railway stations in Zhengzhou and Han Jing were also arrested and massacred by warlords. In order to preserve the revolutionary forces, the Beijing-Han Railway Federation of Trade Unions and the Wuhan Federation of Trade Unions ordered on February 9 to persuade workers to reluctantly return to work. Although the "February 27th" struggle failed, it showed the great strength of the working class. The martyrs who died heroically in the struggle set a shining example for the working class. To commemorate the martyrs of Lin Xiangqian, 196 1 Lin Xiangqian Martyrs Cemetery was built in Shanggan Town, Minhou County, Fujian Province at the beginning of this year.
South section: the construction process of Guangdong-Han railway
The southern section from Guangzhou, Guangdong Province to Wuchang, Hubei Province is called "Guangdong-Han Railway". In May of the 22nd year of Guangxu (1896), Zhang Zhidong issued a letter to build the Guangdong-Han Railway, claiming that the government should supervise the business. However, the Qing court borrowed money from the United States on its own, and the United States even stipulated that China must pay off its debts after 50 years before it can recover its railway management rights. However, this move caused strong dissatisfaction among gentry and businessmen in Guangdong, Hunan and Hubei. In the end, the Qing government paid as much as $6.75 million to redeem the right of way from the United States.
The Guangdong-Han railway started in July, 1900, but after the construction of the Changsha-Zhuzhou-Xiangtan section, the funds were insufficient. Although Hunan Yuehan Railway Company raised 8,365,438+0,000 silver dollars by issuing shares, it still made ends meet. Finally, we had to sign a loan contract for Huguang Railway with German, British and French banking groups in June, 438+0909, and borrowed 5.5 million pounds.
The project from Xujiapeng, Wuchang to Changsha, with a total length of more than 480 kilometers, was opened to traffic in September 2008. The Guangzhou-Shaoguan section is 224 kilometers long and was completed on 19 16. However, more than 400 kilometers from Shaoguan to Zhuzhou has been delayed again and again because of the complex terrain and arduous project. By 1927, the Ministry of Railways of the National Government was established, and the construction of the bamboo whistle section of the Guangdong-Han Railway was listed as the primary task. At that time, Sun Ke, Minister of Railways, even proposed to build the railway with boxer indemnity. Bamboo outpost was completed on April 28th 1936. At that time, it was claimed to be a railway with high construction standards in China railway engineering. At the same time, the entire line of Guangdong-Han Railway was declared to be connected, with a total length of 1095.6 km.