Line 11 (Guangzhou Metro)

Line 11 of the Guangzhou Metro (Chinese: 广州地铁11号线; pinyin: Guǎngzhōu Dìtiě Shíyīhàoxiàn) is a fully automated rapid transit line in Guangzhou. It is a loop line around the city center, connecting Guangzhou railway station, Guangzhou East railway station, Pazhou, and Fangcun.^[2] It opened on 28 December 2024, minus Guangzhou Railway Station due to pending national rail station renovation by China Railways.

The line forms a 44.2-kilometre (27.5 mi) ring around the edge of the dense central areas of Guangzhou,^[1] allowing circumferential and tangential traffic to avoid transferring at the congested city center stations. As such, 19 of the line's 31 stations plan to have transfers with other lines. In addition, the line will act as a distributor for the numerous Pearl River Delta Metropolitan Region intercity railways, and the suburban radial subway lines (Guangzhou Metro Line 14, Line 21, Line 22 and Foshan Metro Line 11) that are expected to terminate at stations on Line 11.

Due to the large number of connections and destinations, the line is expected to have a ridership of over 1.2 million passengers per day.^[3] To cope with the projected high demand, engineers designed the line to be the second in the system to use high-capacity 8-car wide-body type A trains.^[4] Rolling stock is stabled at the former Line 8 Chisha depot, reconstructed for this line with the former line's depot relocated to Baiyunhu Depot, reached by a new connection between Chisha and Longtan stations.

In 1997 the "Guangzhou City Rapid Rail Transit Network Planning Study (Final Report)" proposed ring line 5 as an alternative to the B program. It followed a closed loop roughly along Newport Road, Changgang Road, Fangcun Avenue, Huangsha Avenue, Huanshi Road and the current Guangzhou New Central Axis. However, the final recommendation was for the A-ring program, so it was not adopted.

In 2008 a new round of rail transit network planning again proposed a loop line. This time it was to follow Xingang Road and the Changgang Road Corridor of Line 8 in the Haizhu Section, with respective "inner ring" and "outer ring" schemes. As the new central axis and Central City Road in the 1997 Line B proposal became Line 3 and Line 5 respectively, between the two schemes, the northeast half-ring was extended via Guangyuan Road, Tianhe North Road, Zhongshan Avenue and Tianfu Road to access Pazhou Station. The difference between the two programs lies in the direction of the western half. The "Little Ring" program was to connect Guangzhou Railway Station along Industrial Avenue, Kangwang Road, Liwan Road and Zhanqian Road. In 1997 the "Grand Central" program was to pass Fenghuang Xincun Station and follow the route of Fangcun Boulevard and Huangsha Avenue and Central City Hall to reach Guangzhou Railway Station, but was realigned along Guangyuan Road. The final "grand scheme" was adopted; however, the already-completed Pazhou-Wansheng section was transferred to other routes, leading to a temporary extension of Line 8 to Cultural Park in the Fenghuang New Town.

When the plan was formally chosen in 2010, it was decided to not split Line 8, retaining its original L-shaped route. All sections of the ring line would be completely new. Therefore, the "Grand Central" Southern Half Ring was also extended to Yijing Road in the Xingang Road Corridor, south of Line 8, becoming an outer ring named Line 11, essentially following the current route. At the same time, it was also planned to increase the number of stations to 32. The final decision was to add only one station, but cancel Ruibao station. However, as the proposed route crossed Baiyun Mountain and Haizhu Wetland, concerns were raised by environmental groups. In the following 2014 proposal, the Dajinzhong Road–Yuntai Garden segment was realigned from under Baiyun Mountain to below Guangyuan Road Middle. Due to the restructuring, the original main entrance of Yuntai Garden Station was moved 150 metres (492 ft 2 in) to the south, to street level in Guangyuan Road Middle. Additionally, a secondary exit was removed at the Haizhu Wetland station (now Longtan).

In 2012, Line 11 was included in Guangzhou Metro's 12th Five-Year Plan and approved. January 2015, the Environmental Impact Assessment for Line 11 was approved by the Provincial Environmental Protection Agency. In July 2015 the project feasibility report was approved. At the end of 2015, Yuexiu District applied for the cancellation of Tianxincun Station due to difficulties with site clearing, but in late September 2016 the station was approved for construction. On 28 September 2016, construction officially started. Tianxincun Station was eventually cancelled in June 2023, therefore reducing the number of stations on the line to 31.

In order to connect Line 21 to the metro line network in the central city, the section of Line 11 from Tianhe Park Station to Yuancun Station was given priority for construction, and temporarily became part of Line 21 between 20 December 2019 and 2 October 2024. Before the opening of Line 11, the relevant lines and platform facilities were rebuilt.^[5]

The full circle line, excluding the national railway interchange stations at Guangzhou East Railway Station and Guangzhou Railway Station (for overhauls of these two railway stations), opened on 28 December 2024. Guangzhou East Railway Station opened on 29 September 2025.^[6] Guangzhou Railway Station will not open in the near term due to railway station renovation requirements.