INTRO: Deep under China’s coastal metropolis, tunnel boring machines are hard at work on Shanghai’s second metro line. Another consortium is pushing ahead with Line 3, and plans are taking shape for Line 11. Chris Jackson discussed progress with Shanghai Metro Corp President & General Manager Shi Li An
VERY DELICATELY, two tunnel boring machines are making their way eastwards under the shopping streets in the heart of Shanghai. The streets are thronged with shoppers, who already benefit from one metro line and will have two more to use by the end of next year.
The TBMs deep under Nanjing Dong Lu are just two of the 10 machines being used on the first phase of Line 2. They are boring east from the station box at People’s Park, which will eventually form the interchange with People’s Square station on Line 1. The first TBM passed under the Line 1 running tunnels in May 1998 with no disruption to services, and the second followed in August. Continuing to the famous Bund, they will connect with further bores running under the Huangpu River to the rapidly growing new town of Pudong.
Shanghai Metro Corp President & General Manager Shi Li An is confident that the east-west Line 2 will be as successful as the north-south Line 1, which was officially opened on April 10 1995. Line 1 was extended southwest by 5·3 km from Jin Jiang Park to Xin Zhuang at the end of 1996, taking the total length to 21·4 km. Line 1 is currently carrying around 500000 passengers/day, with trains running at 5min headways from 05.00 to 24.00 each day.
The next improvement to Line 1 will come in the first quarter of this year, when fare collection is converted from paper tickets and manual checking to magnetic stripe tickets and automatic gates. The equipment is being supplied by Cubic Transportation Systems under a US$27·9m contract awarded in October 1996. Compatible fare collection equipment will also be installed on Lines 2 and 3, but the interchanges will be outside the paid area to ensure that each route receives the revenue that should be attributed to it.
Construction of Line 2 got under way in earnest during 1996, with the first TBM launched in September of that year. The current schedule provides for tunnelling work to be completed by the end of 1999 and for the test section near the depot to be ready for trial running at the same time. Revenue services on Phase I are expected to commence before the end of 2000.
Costed at US$1·5bn, the first phase runs for 16·4 km from Long Dong Lu in Pudong to Zhong Shan Park, with 12 underground stations. The second phase will continue the line west to Hong Qiao Airport. After tunnelling under the elevated ring road, the line will rise on to viaduct to serve four stations in the new technology industry zone along Tianshan Lu. The final 10·6 km will return to tunnel to reach an underground terminus beneath the airport. Construction of the second phase is now expected to start soon after 2000.
Currently under consideration is a 31 km eastern extension to Line 2, which would run southeast from Long Dong Lu through the extremities of Pudong to a second international airport which would be built near the coast. Shi says that if the airport goes ahead, construction of the metro extension could start by the end of 1999 for opening in 2003-04.
Line 3 takes shape
Simultaneously with the boring of Line 2, a third route is also under construction. To spread the workload, the elevated Pearl line is being developed by a public-private partnership of Chinese Railways and various local firms - the Shanghai Mass Transit Pearl Line Development Co. Shi says that following completion the line will be handed over to SMC for operation, so that it can be integrated with the rest of the metro network.
CR’s involvement stems from the fact that much of the alignment for the initial 24·9 km route through the western and northern parts of the city is a former railway. The first section of the Shanghai - Hangzhou line, which was a single-track surface route with many level crossings over city streets, was replaced about 10 years ago by a new double-track ring line further out of the centre. Line 3’s elevated structure will just fit into the old rail corridor, with bridges replacing the level crossings.
Line 3 will start from Cao He Jing in the southwest, and will then interchange with Line 1 at Xin Long Hua. There will also be an interchange here with the new Chinese Railways South station which is being developed to relieve pressure on the existing main station. Line 3 will then curve north and fly over the city’s elevated ring motorway to follow the former CR alignment around the west of the city.
After interchanging with Line 2 at Zhong Shan Park, Line 3 will continue across Suzhou Creek to the main station, where a flyover will carry the trains across the station throat to platforms on the north side. The route will then head northeast along the alignment of CR’s Song-Hu line to the suburb of Jiang Wan Zhen. There will be a total of 19 stations.
The first section of Line 3 is expected to open in 2000, with the northern extension to be completed some time later. Although regarded as a ’lighter’ specification than Lines 1 and 2, Line 3 still has a design capacity of 700000 passengers/day. Six-car trains carrying up to 2000 passengers running at 150 sec headways will accommodate 48 000 passengers/h in each direction.
Local rolling stock
The six-car trains for Line 1 were supplied by the German Shanghai Metro Group joint venture of Siemens and AEG (now Adtranz). The first batch was built in Berlin, although later cars were assembled locally. GSMG is also providing rolling stock, power supplies and communications equipment for the first phase of Line 2 under a DM730m contract awarded in February 1996.
Shi explains that the Chinese government was keen to see a much greater involvement of local contractors in the provision of rolling stock and other electrical and mechanical equipment for Line 3 and future routes, including a full technology transfer package which can be harnessed for equipping future extensions.
He is remarkably candid about the selection process. ’Because we need to negotiate foreign loans to finance the rolling stock package, our strategy has been to select a partner country first, and then find the best technical solution among the suppliers in that country. They will be invited to form a joint venture with local contractors, and only when a satisfactory package is assembled will the contract be awarded.’
There has been considerable interest in the proposal, as there is much to play for. As well as the Line 3 fleet, the joint venture is in line to pick up orders for Line 2 phase II, the Line 1 extension, and Line 11 within the next few years. Three main contenders had been shortlisted by mid-1998: Siemens/Adtranz, Alstom Transport and a grouping of Bombardier and CAF.
In mid-August, Alstom signed a joint venture agreement with Shanghai Electric Corp as the company’s local partner, which led to the signing of a formal letter of intent with representatives of the Pearl Line Development Co on September 25 (RG 11.98 p753). Once the contract is ratified, Alstom and SEC will supply an initial build of 24 six-car trains to the modular Metropolis design with ONIX 1500 IGBT traction equipment. The joint venture will also provide signalling, communications, power supplies and fare collection equipment for Line 3.
Fourth line soon
The latest version of the Shanghai Master Plan for Urban Construction envisages an eventual network of 11 metro lines totalling 385 km. In addition there would be 10 light rail routes with a total length of 177 km, giving the city a 562 km urban rail network by 2025. However, Shi Li An says long-term planning priorities for the metro network are set by the city government, and regular reviews of the proposals mean that the lines may not be built in numerical order.
Thus the fourth route to go ahead will be Line 11. Detailed plans are being drawn up for a 21 km loop around the southern and western quadrants of the city, crossing the river twice to serve parts of Pudong. Line 11 would also be largely elevated, mirroring the specifications for Line 3, with which it will connect at each end. The ultimate intention is that services would share the 11 km central section of Line 3 to create a circular route around the city centre.
Starting from Cao Bao Lu in the southwest, Line 11 would parallel the city’s ring road along the north side of the Huangpu river through Nan Yuan and Peng Lan, crossing the river near the Nanpu bridge to reach Nan Ma Tou. It would then turn north through Pudong along Dong Fang Lu, interchanging with Line 2 at Yang Gao Lu. Crossing back over the river at Tilan Qiao, the route would curve east past He Ping Park through the Beizhan district to rejoin Line 3 at Jiao Tong Park, close to the main station.
A feasibility study has also been completed for a 16·4 km northern extension of Line 1, from Shanghai station to Fujin Lu. Work on the initial 9·8 km as far as Chang Jiang Lu is expected to get under way at the end of 2000. This section would be a mix of tunnel and viaduct, with three underground and four elevated stations. A further four elevated stations are envisaged on the northern leg which would be completed after 2005.
With the first phases of Lines 2 and 3 well advanced, Shanghai municipal government expects to have 63route-km of metro in operation by the end of 2000. A further 65 km should be built by 2005, together with the first two of the 10 ’light rail’ lines. The first of these will be the 14 km Xing Ming line announced in 1998, which may use monorail technology. The line would run south from Xin Zhuong station at the end of Line 1 to Ming Hang, and is expected to enter service after 2002. n
CAPTION: During the summer of 1998 two tunnnel boring machines dug their way east from People’s Park, carrying Line 2 under the heart of Shanghai
CAPTION: The main construction site for Line 2 in central Shanghai is at People’s Park, which in future will form the interchange to People’s Square station on Line 1
CAPTION: Construction of the Line 3 viaducts is well advanced between Yanan Lu (above) and the Line 2 interchange at Zong Shan Park. The elevated structure avoids the traffic congestion caused by level crossings along the surface alignment of the former railway corridor, as at Jiangning Bei Lu (right)
CAPTION: A joint venture of Alstom Transport and Shanghai Electric Corp has been selected as preferred bidder to supply the rolling stock for Line 3. The initial fleet of 24 six-car trains will be based on Alstom’s Metropolis modular design which is also being supplied to Warszawa and the Singapore North East Line
La ligne 11 va augmenter la croissance du réseau
Dans le tréfonds du c??ur de Shanghaã, les tunneliers travaillent dur sur la deuxième ligne du métro de la ville. Un consortium financé par le privé agit pour la réalisation de la ligne 3, aérienne, et les projets prennent forme pour une ligne 11, circulaire, qui deviendra la quatrième pièce du jeu de construction d’un réseau qui s’accroît rapidement afin de mieux desservir la métropole du bord de mer, en plein développement. Chris Jackson s’est entretenu avec le président-directeur général de la Shanghaã Metro Corporation, Shi Li AnNetzerweiterung mit Linie 11
Tief unter dem Herzen von Shanghai sind Tunnelbohrmaschinen emsig am Werk für die zweite U-Bahn-Strecke. Ein privates Konsortium treibt die Hochbahnlinie 3 voran, und die Pläne nehmen Form an für die Ringlinie 11, welche zur vierten Hauptader des rasch wachsenden Netzes dieser blühenden chinesischen Hafenstadt wird. Chris Jackson unterhielt sich mit Shi Li An, dem Vorsitzenden und Geschäftsleiter der Shanghai Metro CorpLa línea 11 se unir
