They’re calling it “Little Yellow”. And it’s the first train to run along the tracks of Nanjing Metro Line 5. It’s also a long-awaited sign that we are now perhaps just a bit more than 6 months from being able to ride the line ourselves, since work began in 2016.
Yesterday, 30 August, saw Little Yellow (小黄) successfully return to the Nanjing Metro depot at Shuichang Jie after it completed the Line’s first hot-sliding tests all the way along the Jiangning section of Line 5 between the stations on Wenjing Lu and Jiyin Avenue.
Such hot sliding tests that check connectivity between a line’s overhead catenary and the train’s pantograph are one of the key milestones along the journey for any electrified-rail project.
Thanks to Nanjing Metro’s post on their official WeChat account, we also yesterday got our first look at the interior of Line 5 trains; Little Yellow has been named aptly.
The nine stations along the 13-kilometre stretch of Line 5’s southern section comprise Wenjing Lu, Dong Shan, Xinting Lu, Zhushan Lu, Kening Lu, Qianzhuang, Chengxin Avenue, Jiulong Lake South and Jinyin Avenue.
Line 5 has been the most demanding of lines for Nanjing Metro in terms of construction. The only other line that comes close in terms of engineering challenges was Line 1. But that was 20 years ago, when Nanjing was less developed, there were no other metro lines in the way and, er, there was no COVID.
Line 5 has also had to contend with many archeological relics, such as the Ming Dynasty imperial palace of Chaotian Gong. Then there has been the former site of the Shanghai Commercial & Savings Bank at the junction of Taiping Lu and Jiankang Lu. Now a branch of the ICBC, the unique triangular architecture of the building and the story of the bank itself have strong links to the Republican era, a time fiercely protected by local authorities.
Metro regulations state that there must be at least two tunnel diameters (12.4 metres) between a line’s tunnel and any cultural relic; any less and it is feared vibrations from both construction and trains running may damage the city’s cultural heritage.
Then there is the fact that Line 5 will have no less than seven interchanges with other lines, namely Lines 1, 2, 3, 4, 7 and S1. Of these, that with Line 7 (Fujian Lu) is of note for it being the first station built to accommodate two lines simultaneously.
All in all, it means Nanjing Metro Line 5 will not be far off a decade in the making when complete, when most metro lines in China typically take 5 years to build. For the good folks of Jiangning District, the news is better; with fewer challenges, this shall be the first section of Line 5 to begin operations.
Work is proceeding at pace to have those stations in Jiangning complete as soon as possible. The Nanjinger recently spoke with a construction worker at the Kening Lu site who confirmed that this publication has previously reported; they’ll be done by year end.
Then we’re looking at 2-3 months of tests of trains with passengers who are in fact Nanjing Metro employees. They’ll be ironing out the wrinkles to make our travelling experience on Line 5 as pleasant and efficient as possible, beginning, fingers crossed, before April 2024.
