The Changzhou Metro is a rapid transit system in Changzhou, Jiangsu province, China. The system started operation on 21 September 2019, with the opening of its first line, Line 1 becoming the 35th city in China with a subway in Mainland China.[1] The Changzhou metro currently has Line 1 and Line 2 in operation, while Line 5 is still under construction.[2]
Line 1 started operation on 21 September 2019.[1] Construction for Line 1 began on 28 October 2014. The first phase runs from Forest Park (森林公园) in the north to Nanxiashu (南夏墅) in the south. It is 34.24 kilometres (21.28 mi)[3] in length with 29 stations, including 27 underground and 2 elevated. The line will be extended North for 3.5 km and South for 3.2 km.[5]
In its first year of operation, the highest passenger flow in a single day was 243,000 on October 2 and total ridership in 2019 was 10.3 million.[6]
Construction for Line 2 began on 13 February 2017.[7] It is 19.79 kilometres (12.30 mi)[4][7] in length with 15 stations, from Qingfeng Park to Wuyi Lu.[7] It was opened on 28 June 2021.[4]
A two-station pilot section of Line 5 at the Lanyuewan end started construction in October 2023, with the start of construction along the entirety of Line 5 planned for 2024, with a completion in 2028.[8]
Long term plan
According to the "Changzhou Urban Rail Transit Construction Plan (2011~2018)", the urban rail transit network of Changzhou City planned by 2050 consists of 6 lines.[9]
Changzhou Metro has a starting price of 2 yuan, a starting mileage of 5 kilometers, and an upgrade mileage of "5, 5, 7, 7, 9" kilometers, and an increase of 1 yuan for each level. Namely: the fare of less than 5 kilometers (inclusive) is 2 yuan, the fare of 5-10 (inclusive) kilometers is 3 yuan, the fare of 10-15 (inclusive) kilometers is 4 yuan, and the fare is 15-22 (inclusive) kilometers. 5 yuan, 6 yuan fare for 22-29 (inclusive) kilometers, an increase of 1 yuan for every 9 kilometers above 29 kilometers.[10]
Trains
Trains for the first phase were manufactured by CRRC Nanjing Puzhen. The trains used by Changzhou Rail Transit Line 1 are Type B cars. Each train is 6 cars and is composed of 4 motor cars and 2 trailer cars. The first phase of the project ordered 36 trainsets. A 6 car set has a total length of about 120 metres (393 ft 8 in) and trains are 2.9 metres (9 ft 6 in) wide, the maximum operating speed is 80 km/h (50 mph), each car has 4 pairs of 1.3 metres (4 ft 3 in) wide doors on each side. The maximum passenger capacity of each train is 2062 people. At the same time, the train adopts lightweight aluminum alloy material with a service life of 30 years.[11]