The 344-km long rail line will run along the western half of the island's coastline, from Haikou Railway Station in the north to Sanya Railway Station. At its two end points, it will connect with the existing Hainan Eastern Ring High-Speed Railway (opened in 2010), thus forming a high-speed railway ring around the tropical island.
Unlike the Hainan Eastern Ring Railway, which runs along the coast previously not served by railway (other than at its end points, Haikou and Sanya), the Western Ring Railway will roughly parallel the "conventional" Hainan Western Ring Railway, which has connected Haikou and Sanya since 2005.
History
The Hainan Western Ring Railway is being constructed in two stages.The first short section will connect the existing Sanya Railway Station with the new Sanya Phoenix Airport Railway Station, 10 km to the west. The section will have one intermediate station, the Sanya West Railway Station (三亚西站). The construction work on this section (凤三段, Feng-San duan) is expected to be completed by the end of 2014.
On the rest of the railway - the much longer section from Sanya Phoenix Airport to Haikou - the construction project, as of 2012, is still in its preliminary phase. Property is acquired, and demolition is conducted. According to the construction plans, 22,300 mu (14.8 km2) of land will be permanently used by the railway and associated facilities, and another 8,800 mu (5.9 km2) will be temporary used during construction. Eighty-seven thousand m2 of housing will be demolished. The plans are to complete the necessary demolitions by the end of 2013.