Nanjing has not seen a new metro line open in 3 and a half years. That all changed today as Line S6 and the West Extension to Line 2 opened to the travelling public, bringing the length of the Nanjing Metro to 427 kilometres.
At midday today, the first train taking paying passengers departed Maqun station and began its way to Jurong in neighbouring Zhenjiang City on Metro Line S6.
As Nanjing’s first intercity metro line, it also needs to be fast. Trains are capable of traveling at 120 kilometres per hour and making the 43.59-kilometre journey in 35 minutes, revealed Nanjing Metro yesterday.
Stations along the route from Maqun comprise Baishui Qiao, Qilin Men, Dongjiao Town, Guquan, Nanjing Yuanrendong (Nanking Man Cave), Tangshan, Quandu Jie, Huang Mei, Tongshijie (Children’s World), Huayang, Chongming and finally Jurong.
All are equipped with upgraded toilets that include mother and baby rooms.
However, it’s not a case of simply hopping on the first train that comes along. In order to facilitate the fastest possible travel time between Nanjing and Jurong, two types of trains are operating. Express trains which complete the end-to-end journey in 35 minutes do so by only stopping at six stations, in addition to the two termini. Other local trains serve all 13 stations and take a little longer.
But Line S6 is special for another reason. Property prices in Jurong are just 20 percent of those in Nanjing. That makes it affordable for many to get on the property ladder but still work in Nanjing as intercity commuters.
For those living in Nanjing, a good excuse to use the new link might be the numerous attractions lying in wait which have been opened up to Nanjing citizens for free, in celebration of the S6 debut.
Highlight among which is likely Maoshan, a 5A scenic area that is the birthplace of the Shangqing sect of Taoism and the cradle of Chinese Daoism. As this publication has noted in its series, Great Nanjingers, the mountain was previously believed to be a portal to a Daoist world.
Back here in The Southern Capital, also opening today as morning became afternoon was the western extension to Line 2.
Beginning from the Line’s previous terminus at Youfangqiao, the extension is a mere 5.4 kilometres long, adding just four stations to our bright-red link.
They are Luoyang Lu, Qinglian Jie, Tianbaojie and the new terminus at Yuzui (Fish Mouth).
With the opening of the two lines today, so the total number of stations on the Nanjing Metro network has increased from 174 to 191.
