beijingwalker
ELITE MEMBER
- Nov 4, 2011
- 66,202
- -55
- Country
- Location
Chinese Cities See Rush of Subway Rail Line Ribbon-Cutting
SANDY SMITH OCTOBER 2, 2019
Metro in China's Xi'an (Photo by Jucember / CC BY 2.0)
New Rail Lines Open in Seven Chinese Cities
The spread of rail rapid transit throughout urban China has been proceeding at a steady clip for several years now. And while attention was mainly focused on the contrast between pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong and the runup to the Beijing government’s grand show of might to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the People’s Republic of China on Oct. 1, the pace of rail transit expansion also picked up a bit just ahead of the big event.
The International Railway Journal reports that seven Chinese cities cut the ribbon on new metro lines, extensions of existing lines, or new suburban rail lines in a five-day period between Sept. 25 and 29.
In Jiangsu province, the first metro line for Xuzhou entered service Sept. 28. The 22-km (13.7-mile), east-west Line 1 took five years to build at a cost of 16.3 billion yuan (U.S. $2.28 billion). The line runs entirely underground save for a 900-meter (.56-mile) elevated viaduct at its western end. In Xi’an in Shaanxi province, the new Airport Intercity Line connects to the northeast of the city and interchanges with metro Lines 1 and 2 along the way. The 29.3-km (28.2-mile) line has 10 stations, seven of them underground. It opened for service on Sept. 29. Three days earlier, a 6.1-km (3.8-mile) underground extension of metro Line 1 opened in Xi’an as well. The line is the first to connect Xi’an city with Xixian New Area and is seen as a key tool to integrate the two urban areas.
Five other cities opened line extensions just ahead of the anniversary. Wuhan opened the Caidan Line on Sept. 25. With the extension, metro Line 4 has 37 stations and extends for 48.6 km (30.2 miles). Wuxi added three stations and 5.2 km (3.2 miles) to the 29.4-km (18.3-mile), 24-station Line 1 on Sept. 28. In Shenzhen, a new extension of Line 5 completed a belt metro route around the city on Sept. 28. The 7.6-km (4.7-mile) extension adds five stations to the 40-km (24.9-mile) line. The extension also brings metro service to the Qianhai and Shekou Free Trade Zone in the southwest part of the city for the first time. Wenzhou opened an extension of its sole rail transit line, a suburban line running from Tongxing to Olympic Centre, in late September. The extension, which adds six stations and 19.1 km (11.9 miles) to the Olympic Centre end of the 34.4-km (21.4-mile) Line S1, brings rail service to the port city’s airport as well. Ningbo added 5.6 km (3.5 miles) to Line 3, the Ningfeng Line, on Sept. 28. The new extension runs from Gaotang Bridge to Minghui Road. Metro Report International reports that this line will be extended an additional 15.9 km (9.9 miles) next year, with the southern part of this six-station extension operated as a separate line.
https://nextcity.org/daily/entry/chinese-cities-see-rush-of-rail-line-ribbon-cutting
SANDY SMITH OCTOBER 2, 2019
Metro in China's Xi'an (Photo by Jucember / CC BY 2.0)
New Rail Lines Open in Seven Chinese Cities
The spread of rail rapid transit throughout urban China has been proceeding at a steady clip for several years now. And while attention was mainly focused on the contrast between pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong and the runup to the Beijing government’s grand show of might to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the People’s Republic of China on Oct. 1, the pace of rail transit expansion also picked up a bit just ahead of the big event.
The International Railway Journal reports that seven Chinese cities cut the ribbon on new metro lines, extensions of existing lines, or new suburban rail lines in a five-day period between Sept. 25 and 29.
In Jiangsu province, the first metro line for Xuzhou entered service Sept. 28. The 22-km (13.7-mile), east-west Line 1 took five years to build at a cost of 16.3 billion yuan (U.S. $2.28 billion). The line runs entirely underground save for a 900-meter (.56-mile) elevated viaduct at its western end. In Xi’an in Shaanxi province, the new Airport Intercity Line connects to the northeast of the city and interchanges with metro Lines 1 and 2 along the way. The 29.3-km (28.2-mile) line has 10 stations, seven of them underground. It opened for service on Sept. 29. Three days earlier, a 6.1-km (3.8-mile) underground extension of metro Line 1 opened in Xi’an as well. The line is the first to connect Xi’an city with Xixian New Area and is seen as a key tool to integrate the two urban areas.
Five other cities opened line extensions just ahead of the anniversary. Wuhan opened the Caidan Line on Sept. 25. With the extension, metro Line 4 has 37 stations and extends for 48.6 km (30.2 miles). Wuxi added three stations and 5.2 km (3.2 miles) to the 29.4-km (18.3-mile), 24-station Line 1 on Sept. 28. In Shenzhen, a new extension of Line 5 completed a belt metro route around the city on Sept. 28. The 7.6-km (4.7-mile) extension adds five stations to the 40-km (24.9-mile) line. The extension also brings metro service to the Qianhai and Shekou Free Trade Zone in the southwest part of the city for the first time. Wenzhou opened an extension of its sole rail transit line, a suburban line running from Tongxing to Olympic Centre, in late September. The extension, which adds six stations and 19.1 km (11.9 miles) to the Olympic Centre end of the 34.4-km (21.4-mile) Line S1, brings rail service to the port city’s airport as well. Ningbo added 5.6 km (3.5 miles) to Line 3, the Ningfeng Line, on Sept. 28. The new extension runs from Gaotang Bridge to Minghui Road. Metro Report International reports that this line will be extended an additional 15.9 km (9.9 miles) next year, with the southern part of this six-station extension operated as a separate line.
https://nextcity.org/daily/entry/chinese-cities-see-rush-of-rail-line-ribbon-cutting
