Abstract

The People’s Republic of China (PRC) has reached a stage of urbanization where mobility has become crucial to the quality of life. Transportation is no longer as simple as moving from one point to another. Seamless connections between urban centers, enjoyable and convenient travel experience, integrated transport networks that facilitate efficient passenger transfers, sustainable and low energy infrastructure design, and transport-oriented development have become important elements of a transport system. The growing and evolving needs in the transport sector have laid a good foundation for the development of multimodal railway interchange hubs.

Much knowledge of and experience in the planning, design, and construction management of interchange hubs have been gained. However, the laws, regulations, and technical specifications that govern interchange hub design remain fragmented and often riddled with inconsistencies in the application of planning and design processes. This has affected the quality of the resulting hub design.

This report discusses the experiences and commonly encountered issues when developing railway interchange hubs. It proposes basic design principles as well as research approaches. The report focuses on the planning and design of interchange hubs with railway stations as their focal point. It is developed to serve as a good reference to assist pertinent government agencies, urban planners, architects, engineers, and other experts who are responsible in designing interchange hubs in the PRC, including personnel involved in urban and transport planning, engineering design, and construction management.