CHINA'S first underground railway station will be built in central Shenzhen, according to a memorandum signed between the Ministry of Railway and the Shenzhen city government Tuesday (Aug 22).

Vice Railway Minister Lu Chunfang and Shenzhen Mayor Xu Zongheng witnessed the signing of the memorandum in Beijing on Tuesday.

The station, to be located under Yitian Road in Futian District, will serve passengers to and from Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Xiamen, Dongguan and Zhuhai. The station is a new addition to the planned Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong passenger railway.

The memorandum says the new Shenzhen Railway Station in Longhua, Bao'an District, will remain the city's central railway passenger terminal as previously planned.

The construction of the new Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong passenger railway and the Xiamen-Shenzhen passenger railway will be completed by 2010, according to a Shenzhen Special Zone Daily report earlier this month. The Longhua station is expected to be built by 2009.

According to the memorandum, the ministry and the city government also agreed to speed up the construction of the new Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong railway, and to try to start building the Xiamen-Shenzhen railway by the end of the year.

Editor: Wing