CHINA: The first suburban railway in the city of Jinhua in Zhejiang province opened on August 30.
The 58·4 km Jinyi Line starts at Jinhua’s Xi (west) station and runs south in tunnel to the city centre before turning east on an elevated alignment to reach a further tunnel section at Jinhua Nan station. It then rises onto viaduct to continue northeast until reaching the underground station at Qintang in the city of Yiwu.
The Jinyi Line has been built as the western section of the Jinyi East Line programme.
The eastern section of this corridor is known as the Yidong Line and is scheduled to open later this year, running for 48·4 km from Yiwu station to Qintang on the Jinyi Line, and then serving the Ming & Qing Dynasty Palaces in Hengdian.
The Jinyi East Line will be operated by 50 CRRC Changchun Type B trainsets ordered in two batches. The 1·5 kV DC third rail units have a maxmimum speed of 120 km/h and a capacity of 1 488 passengers, with the interiors designed for suburban rail rather than metro journey times.
Planning for the Jinyi East Line began in September 2011, and construction was approved by the the National Development & Reform Commission in 2014 and the Zhejiang Provincial Development & Reform Commission in October 2016.
Longer term plans envisage expanding Jinhua’s urban and suburban network to 319·5 km and 91 stations by 2030.
