THE municipal urban planning bureau is soliciting suggestions from the public on four plans for a large railway station in Longhua, Bao'an District.

The plans can be viewed at its Web site http://www.szplan.gov.cn/main/index.shtml.

The planned new railway station of Shenzhen, the largest railway station to be built in Shenzhen, will occupy 2.4 square kilometers and connect the Beijing-Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Passenger Railway, the Hangzhou-Fuzhou-Shenzhen Passenger Railway, the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Expressway as well as Metro Line 4, 5 and 6.

The detailed schedule for the construction of the station has not been decided yet, but a planning bureau official said it would be completed before 2010, when the Beijing-Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Passenger Railway will be put into use. Urban planning officials expect the New Railway Station to handle 45.5 million passengers a year by 2020.

The four proposals waiting public suggestions were submitted by four well-known design firms, including Japanese design company Nikken Sekkei, whose design won the first prize out of the four plans. Suggestions are welcome before Jan. 16.

The city is expected to have 70.05 million railway passengers a year in 2020. Its biggest railway station, Shenzhen Railway Station in Luohu, handled 11.4 million passengers in 2003.

Editor: Yan