The first railway station at what was to become the city of Shijiazhuang opened in 1903. Between 1987 and 2012, the name "Shijiazhuang railway station" was applied to the facility located in downtown Shijiazhuang, at . Administratively, the site is in the city's
Qiaoxi District, on the border with
Qiaodong District. (The border between the two districts runs along the railway). This station was closed on December 20, 2012, simultaneously with the opening of the new Shijiazhuang railway station. (See
石家庄站 (1987－2012年)) The construction of the present-day Shijiazhuang railway station started in June 2010.; it was opened on December 21, 2012, just in time for the opening of the
Beijing–Shijiazhuang and
Shijiazhuang–Zhengzhou sections of the
Beijing–Guangzhou high-speed railway. To avoid confusion between the pre- and post-2012 stations of the same name, they are sometimes referred to as the "Old (老) Shijiazhuang Station" and the "New (新) Shijiazhuang Station". Unlike most other cities along the Beijing–Guangzhou High-Speed Railway, where the high-speed line is routed away from city centers, and high-speed train stations are separate (and, usually, quite distant) from the cities' conventional railway stations, in Shijiazhuang a decision was made to construct a common station for the high-speed and conventional rail lines. This required extensive tunneling, with a 5-km long 6-track tunnel constructed under the city. ==References==