CHINA: Hangzhou metro opened two new lines and an extension on February 21, adding more than 59 route-km to the network on a single day.
Both lines 3 and 10 were authorised in 2016, as part of the city’s third phase of urban rail development covering 2017-22.
The first section of Line 3 runs from Chaowang Road near the city centre to Xingqiao in the northeast. This section is 21 km long with 13 stations, including interchanges to Line 5 at Shanzian and Line 4 at Xintiandi Street. A southwestern extension is due to be completed by the end of this year, taking the line to a total length of 57·5 km.
Line 3 is operated by 78 six-car Type A trainsets, which are 117 m long. These have been manufactured by CRRC Nanjing Puzhen, and the first was delivered to Xingqiao depot on May 12 2021. Designed for a maximum speed 80 km/h the trains can carry up to 2 260 passengers. In the longer term, the fleet is expected to be expanded to 143 trains.
Under construction since September 2018, the initial 12 km section of Line 10 runs from Yisheng Road in the north to Cuibai Road, west of the city centre, serving nine stations. It has interchanges to Line 4 at Hanxing Road and to Line 5 at Hemu. A 3·1 km southern extension to Huanglong Sports Center with three more stops is scheduled to open by the end of 2022.
Meanwhile Line 4 has been extended by 26 km in an arc around the north of the city, from Pengbu on Line 1 to Chihua Street in the northwest. Together with the two stages opened in 2015 and 2018, this takes Line 4 to a total length of 46·8 km with 32 stations, including 10 interchanges. One more intermediate station remains to be opened at Ducheng Ecopark. The line is operated by 61 six-car Type B trains from CRRC Nanjing Puzhen.
The latest additions have increased the total length of Hangzhou’s 11-line network to 401 km and 215 stations. Extensions to lines 7 and 9 are expected to open before the city hosts the Asian Games in September.
