China opens 18 metro and two LRT lines in 11 cities

WUHAN is the 11th Chinese city to open new metro and light rail lines since December 26 continuing a Chinese tradition of opening new lines during the New Year period.

Wuhan opened two sections of metro on January 2: a 17.6km extension to Line 8 from Liyuan south to Yezhihu and a 3.8km extension to Line 11 from Zuoling east to Gedian South mainline station.

Both Beijing and Chongqing opened extensions to their urban rail networks on December 31. In Beijing, Line 16 was extended by 10km from Xiyuan south to Ganjia Kou, the Fangshan Line was extended by 5.3km from Guogonzhuang north to Dongguantou South, while the 11.9km Yizhuang Tram Line T1, to the southeast of the capital, started operation between Dinghaiyuan and Quzhuang. Chongqing opened a 0.8km extension to Line 1 from Xiaoshizi to Chaotianmen and a 13.8km extension to Line 6 from Yuelai north to Shaheba.

December 30 saw opening of one metro extension and two new lines in Hangzhou. Line 1 was extended 11.2km from Xiasha Jiangbin south to Xiaoshan Airport. The new lines comprise Line 6 from Qianjiang Century City southwest to Shuangpu and West Guihua Road, which added 50.5km to the network, and the 39.3km east-west Line 7 from Olympic Sports Centre via Xiaoshan Airport to Jiangdong’er Road. These extensions have expanded the network to 306km. By 2022, Hangzhou plans to expand the metro network to 516km.

On December 28, Xi’an celebrated the opening of three new lines: the 41.6km Line 5 from Matengkong west to Chuangxingang, Line 6 from Northwestern Polytechnic University southwest to the city’s International Medical Centre (15.6km) and Line 9 from Fangzhicheng on Line 1 northeast to Qinlingxi (25.3km). On the same day, Guangzhou opened the 7.3km Huangpu Tram linking Changping with Xiangxue metro stations.

Fuzhou opened a 4.3km extension to metro Line 1 from Fuzhou South mainline station to Sanjiangkou on December 27.

Finally, four cities opened new metro lines on December 26. Zhengzhou opened two new lines: the 24.3km Line 3 from Henan Sports Centre, on Line 4, south and then east to Henan Orthopaedics Hospital and the 29.3km Line 4 from Laoyachen east and then south to Langzhuang. Nanchang opened its new 28.5km Line 3 running from Jingdong Avenue to Yinsanjiao North. Hefei opened its 23.2km Line 5 from Wanghucheng West to Guiyanglu and Shanghai opened the first section of Line 18 from Yuqiao south to Hangtou (14.5km) and a 9.8km extension to Line 10 from Xinjiangwancheng northeast to Jilong Road.