Initial section Line 3 started out as a short peripheral line in Guangzhou's "Five-Line" subway masterplan in the early 1990s. It was envisioned as a north south circulator line for the
Tianhe District's new CBD connecting
Guangzhou East railway station with the proposed
Zhujiang New Town CBD, crossing the
Pearl River to
Chigang station on what was then
Line 2 and turning east to Xinzhou. Essentially taking over the section of Today's
Line 8 between
Chigang and
Wanshengwei stations. However at the time it was planned to run under Liede Avenue just east of the new CBD instead of under Xiyu West Road like it does today. The change was done in response with the local government's "Southern Expansion" plan to develop the southern areas of Guangzhou. The line would use three car Type B trains instead of higher capacity six car Type A trains used in Line 1 and 2; assuming that capacity shortfalls would be mitigated by running a more frequent service, with an ultimate train configuration of six cars in the future as demand slowly increases. Additionally, a separate Airport Express line between
Guangzhou's New Baiyun International Airport and the new CBD was proposed. Construction the first section of Line 3 between East Guangzhou Railway station and officially commenced with groundbreaking on the experimental segment at
Datang station in 2001. On January 26, 2003, construction work at Datang was completed and capped. On February 8, 2003
tunnel boring machines begin boring tunnels on the first section of Line 3. Tunnel boring machines beginning boring tunnels on a section of Line 3 at
Tiyu Xilu station. Tiyu Xilu Station will use
cut-and-cover construction with a bored section in the middle where it runs under
Line 1 with only of cover. On May 30, 2003 Construction work at
Shiqiao station was completed and capped one month ahead of schedule. At the same time,
Lijiao station begin construction works. 99 sets of escalators were purchased from
Hitachi for the project. The entire project was opened in stages between 2005 and 2006.
North South Express Line During construction of the initial segment, Line 3 and the Airport Express Line were redesigned and now planned as a single project that begins to resemble its configuration today; A line from Baiyun International Airport to
Haibang station via
Zhujiang New Town and
Panyu Square. This allowed for the use of Line 3's three car Type B trains on the Airport Line, again assuming that capacity shortfalls would be mitigated by running a more frequent service, with an ultimate train configuration of six cars in the future. Additionally,
passing loops and higher speed () operations were proposed for the Airport Line to allow for distinct airport express and regular local services similar to the MTR
Tung Chung line and
Airport Express in Hong Kong. The express services would run between
Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport and
Tiyu Xilu and only stop at what is today
Jiahewanggang,
Yantang,
Guangzhou East railway stations. In 2007, of Phase 2 line also redesigned to run underground instead of elevated at a cost of an additional 1 billion Yuan. With the redesigned underground alignment, passing loops for express services were removed to control construction costs. Later
Yongtai station and
Gaozeng station was added to the plan the latter station added in anticipation for
Line 9. On October 30, 2010 Line 3 Phase 2 entered operation.
Congestion In 2010, after the completion of Phase 2, Line 3 has become the most important north-south traffic artery in the urban area of Guangzhou. This is a far cry from the peripheral circulator line it was originally envisioned to be in the 1990s. Massive developments at the
Zhujiang New Town CBD and strong population growth of Guangzhou as a whole, created unforeseen high demand and heavy congestion for the line which forced new B2 and B4 series six car trains to be ordered and existing B1 series three car trains were linked together to form six car sets, decades ahead of the original timeline. The new B2 and B4 series trains will have luggage racks to support Line 3's role as an
airport rail link. In 2015, with daily average ridership reaching over 1.5 million passengers per day, several rows of seats and all luggage racks where removed from all trains in an attempt to increase capacity. In June 2017, the ridership of Line 3 has grown to average over 2 million passengers per day. In March 2018, the whole line heading in the peak direction of the
Zhujiang New Town CBD exceeded 100% capacity during the AM peak period with a maximum full load rate exceeding 120% in the section from Yantang Station to Guangzhou East Station on the Airport Line. The busiest section of Line 3 carries over 60,000
pphpd in 2018, multiples over the long term 20,000 pphpd volume projected during the Airport Line's construction. By 2020, the most congested section of Line 3 reached 150% capacity. Peak period headways have been reduced to every 1 minute 58 seconds and now reaches fleet and signal system capacities. However, the extension eastward beyond
Panyu Square station was approved by
National Development and Reform Commission to only reach
Haibang station as part of Guangzhou's (2015–2025) subway expansion plan in March 2018. It was revealed that the extension to Hai'ou Island is reserved for future planning. Construction of this extension started November 19, 2018. It opened just under 6 years later on November 1, 2024. == Opening timeline ==