Some 10 kilometres away from Zhouzhuang Ancient Town and surrounded by dense lakes, a huge steel structure is rising from the dense network of surrounding lakes. It’s a spectacular sight. For this is to be the all-new Suzhou South Railway Station.
距周庄古镇约10公里，四周密布湖泊，一座巨大的钢结构建筑从周围密布的湖泊网络中拔地而起。这是一个壮观的景象。这就是全新的苏州南站。
Last Friday, 5 January, saw the final concrete poured for the roof section of Suzhou South, clearing the way for the Station to be opened as scheduled within the year.
1月5日上周五，苏州南站屋顶部分最后混凝土浇筑完毕，为车站年内如期开通扫清了道路。
Suzhou South is set to be a fascinating station, for it being where two major lines shall quite literally cross, namely the Shanghai-Suzhou-Huzhou Railway and the Nantong-Suzhou-Jiaxing-Ningbo High-speed Railway.
苏州南站将是一个令人着迷的车站，因为这里是沪苏湖铁路和南通苏嘉甬高铁两条主要干线的交汇点。
And that makes for both an engineering challenge and an opportunity for aesthetic excellence.
这既带来了工程挑战，也带来了实现卓越美学的机会。
The former, for the Station being an irregular shape as well as an interchange with two urban train lines which seeks to minimise transfer times, and the latter for a desire on the part of the end clients for it the reflect the visual characteristics of both Jiangnan water towns and the classical gardens for which Suzhou is so famed.
前者是因为车站形状不规则，并且是两条城市列车线路的交汇处，旨在最大限度地减少换乘时间，后者是为了终端客户的愿望，反映了江南水乡和苏州闻名的古典园林的视觉特征。
Viewed from the air, the entire station appears hexagonal, with the two 350 km/h-capable railway lines clearly crossing each other.
从空中俯瞰，整个车站呈六角形，两条时速350公里的铁路线明显交叉。
With a total construction area larger than 10 standard football fields, at 75,100 square metres, Suzhou South shall consist of four platforms and 12 lines.
苏州南站总建筑面积超过10个标准足球场，达7.51万平方米，由4个站台、12条线路组成。
Li Zuoli, Project Manager for Suzhou South Railway Station on behalf of the China Railway Construction Group, spoke with the Yangtze Evening News.
中国铁建集团苏州南站项目经理李作力接受扬子晚报采访。
Li explained that part of the Station for the Shanghai-Suzhou-Huzhou Railway on the lower level is scheduled to complete debugging and testing in July, while that for the Nantong-Suzhou-Jiaxing-Ningbo High-speed Railway on the Station’s upper level should see interior decoration realised in October.
李介绍，沪苏湖铁路车站下层部分预计7月份完成调试测试，南通苏嘉甬高铁车站上层部分预计10月份实现内部装修。
The challenges don’t end there. Further downstairs at Suzhou South is also where two metro lines shall converge; the under-construction Suzhou Rail Transit 10 and the Watertown Tourist Intercity Railway. Here the designers have had their work cut out for them, given a requirement for the distance between the various modes of transportation and the railway lines to not exceed 200 metres.
挑战还不止于此。再往下就是苏州南，也是两条地铁线路的交汇处；正在建设的苏州轨道交通10线和水城旅游城际铁路。在这里，设计师们为他们准备好了工作，要求各种交通方式与铁路线之间的距离不超过200米。
When all said and done though, in the future, it will take 25 minutes to reach Shanghai Hongqiao Station from the new Suzhou South Railway Station.
总而言之，未来，从新苏州南站到达上海虹桥站仅需25分钟。
