Nanjing’s metro network has become a little bit longer today, with the opening of the south section of fully-automated Line 7. And The Nanjinger just couldn’t wait to take a ride on that which offers significant convenience to our City’s residents in Hexi.
The new part of the Line opened to fare-paying passengers today, 28 December, at 09:00. With nine stations and at 10.66 kilometres long, Line 7 runs between Yingtian Da Jie in the north and its southerly terminus at Xishan Qiao. The Line also features interchanges with Line 2 at Luotang Lu, Line 10 at Zhongsheng and Line S3 at Yongchu Lu.
As well as that convenience for Hexi residents with their daily commute, Line 7 provides for greater connectivity with oft-visited locales such as Auchan and Decathlon on Yingtian Da Jie, BenQ Hospital out of Zhongsheng and the burgeoning 1912 by Taiqing Lu.
So how is the driverless experience? Pretty good, with nothing to fear whatsoever, but also very similar to that to be had on the north section of Line 7 which opened a year ago.
Front and rear, the train is like any other on the Nanjing Metro, save for the fact the driver, their cabin and controls have been removed, offering views aft and forward of the train’s progress through the tunnels.
In place of the driver, a metro employee who stands nonchalantly at the front of the train, but not the rear. The Nanjinger suspects their presence is more to maintain social order among shutter-happy passengers than to keep an eye on the automation.
As to the stations on the south section of Line 7, a better design aesthetic is to be found throughout as well as some high-tech signage.
With today’s opening and Line 7’s northern section already in place, that just leaves the central section, from Mufu Xi Lu to Yingtian Da Jie. We figure another year. At least.
It all means that the length of the Nanjing Metro network has today increased from 449 kilometres to 459.66 kilometres, and the total number of stations from 208 to 217.
Interested readers may also download The Nanjinger’s map of the metro network, updated today with the new section of Line 7, as the only bilingual map of the network to also contain first and last train times for every station. Find it via this link / via the services section in The Nanjinger’s official WeChat account (Id: SinoConnexion).
