Construction on the first interprovincial metro, the Ning-He Metro saw the completion of its Jiangnan (south of the Yangtze River) section over the past week.
It is the latest exciting infrastructure project that seeks to erect a metro system spanning the two provinces of Jiangsu and Anhui, making inter-province travel infinitely more convenient. As its name suggests, once completed, the Ning-He (Nanjing-Hexian) Intercity Metro will extend to Hexian county in Anhui province.
2nd July further marked the maiden voyage of the first high speed train G1325 from Nanjing to Guiyang, another success in the expansion of the public transportation network and Nanjing’s next step in becoming a major transit hub in the Yangtze River basin.
Ning-He Metro (Nanjing Metro Line S3)
Construction of the Ning-He (Nanjing-Hexian) Intercity Metro in the Hexi area already finished in the months prior, while the Jiangnan (south of the Yangtze River) section that began construction in September of 2014 is now another completed piece of the inter-city metro puzzle. Currently, work is being done on the Jiangbei section, another crossing of the mighty Yangtze River. If the construction goes as planned, the first phase of this metro will be promisingly put into practice at the end of 2016. This is the third metro connection across the Yangtze River in Nanjing, which connects downtown Nanjing, and the Jiangbei and Qiaolin areas.
The first phase will cover 37.55 km. The entire line will feature 19 stops starting with Gaojiachong in Pudong District in the west, and ending at Nanjing South Railway Station in the east.
High Speed Train from Nanjing to Guiyang
On July 2nd, the first high speed train G1325 from Nanjing to Guiyang left the station at 7:38 am. While in the past, there were only slow trains to Guiyang, which took more than 20 hours, now all it takes is a 5-hour ride to reach your destination. While only 6 tickets for this train were sold, this is not a sign of disinterest on travellers part but more down to the fact that they did not become available until the day before its first trip. With a much lower price than plane tickets and the popular route via Shanghai, Hangzhou, Nanchang and Changsha and Guiyang itself is an attractive tourist destination, the connection is expected to gain popularity fast.
Aside from these improvements to local infrastructure, two bullet trains from Nanjing to Fuzhou are soon to be introduced, plus high-speed trains from Nanjing South Railway Station to Xiamen North Railway Station coming this summer will minimize travel time to 7hours and 35 minutes.
Goals on Improving Public Transportation
An old saying in China states that “building the road is the first step to becoming rich.” The approval of new railways and new metro lines will accelerate transport construction in Nanjing, ultimately resulting in economic gain by building a connection and helping the creation of an economic block with cities nearby, too far away from Shanghai to be enveloped by the metropole. In a second instance, the idea is to enlarge the city’s impact on the inner parts of China. Ning-He metro is one of the measures aimed at promoting the communication between Anhui and Jiangsu. As the east gate of Anhui province, Hexian county is a base for large-scale steel business, while Guiyang is the capital of Guizhou province on the tributary of Yangtze River. Being connected and partnering up with such strategically important locations will ultimately help our own Ning flourish and realise its objective of playing at the big boys’ table, rather than being hailed as Shanghai’s little brother.
