Yesterday, 28 June, saw a significant milestone reached in the construction of the Nanjing Metro network. Wait a second; shouldn’t that be the Chuzhou Metro network? It’s got even us geeks crazy about trains confused. So let’s clarify…
昨天，6 月 28 日，南京地铁网络建设达到了一个重要里程碑。等一下；那不是应该是滁州地铁网吗？就连我们这些对火车着迷的极客也感到困惑。所以让我们澄清一下……
With an interior colour scheme that leaves much to be desired (the exterior is cool; it’s a phoenix), Nanjing Metro Line S4 began carrying fare-paying passengers yesterday at 10:00. Except it’s not in Nanjing.
南京地铁S4号线的内饰配色让人大失所望（外观很酷，是一只凤凰），于昨天10:00开始搭载付费乘客。 只不过不在南京。
Line S4 is the link with Chuzhou City of Anhui Province, which lies to the northwest of Nanjing. We might call it Nanjing Metro Line S4 or the Ningchu Line (宁滁线), while our comrades over in Anhui would likely prefer the alternative moniker, the Chuzhou-Nanjing Intercity Railway (滁宁城际铁路).
S4线连接南京西北部的安徽省滁州市。我们可能会叫它南京地铁S4线或宁滁线，而我们安徽的同志可能更喜欢另一个名字，滁宁城际铁路。
So what’s it doing claiming to be part of the Nanjing Metro network?
那么，它声称自己是南京地铁网络的一部分，这是在做什么呢？
Well, the completion of the actual Line back in August, 2022, marked a breakthrough in the construction of the very first trans-provincial intercity metro line in all of China.
那么实际线路早在2022年8月就已经竣工了，这标志着中国第一条跨省城际地铁线路的建设取得了突破。
That statement, however, is only true on account of a technicality. The Shanghai Metro already extends across the border into Jiangsu Province, to Kunshan in Suzhou. But Shanghai is not a province; it’s one of China’s four municipalities, so the argument still holds water.
然而，这种说法仅在技术上是正确的。上海地铁已经跨越边境进入江苏省，到达苏州昆山。但上海不是一个省，而是一个省。它是中国四个直辖市之一，所以这个论点仍然成立。
That’s by the by, for that opened yesterday was only the section of the line in Chuzhou. It doesn’t make it to Nanjing, yet; this is where our patience comes in. It’s going to be quite a wait; 3 more years at least.
顺便说一下，昨天开通的只是滁州段。它还没有到达南京；这就是我们需要耐心的地方。这将是一段漫长的等待；至少还有3年。
For that, we need to thank the fact the Line’s eastern terminus is Nanjing North Railway Station, preparation work for which has barely begun.
为此，我们要感谢该线路的东部终点站是南京北站，而其准备工作才刚刚开始。
But that’s putting a dampener on the opening, for which there is much to celebrate. Line S4 is unique [in Nanjing] in having both latitudinal and longitudinal seating. The former is equipped with USB charging points, while wireless-charging points are installed elsewhere.
但这给开幕式带来了挫败感，为此有很多值得庆祝的事情。 S4线（南京）独一无二，既有横向座位，也有纵向座位。前者配备了USB充电点，而无线充电点则安装在其他地方。
Then there is the fact that each window is equipped with pull-down curtains, offering shade from the sun; they’ve even put a rubbish bin in each carriage.
此外，每扇窗户都配有下拉式窗帘，可以遮挡阳光。他们甚至在每节车厢里都放了一个垃圾桶。
The entire Line S4 is 55.35 kilometres in length, with 17 stations in total, 15 of which are in Chuzhou and the other two in Nanjing. One day.
S4线全长55.35公里，共设车站17座，其中滁州15座，南京2座。一天。
So while yesterday heralded the Nanjing Metro network expanding to 13 lines and a total length of 498.66 kilometres, it appears we will have to wait until 2026 to really call it our own.
因此，虽然昨天宣布南京地铁网络将扩大到 13 条线路，总长度达到 498.66 公里，但看来我们要等到 2026 年才能真正称其为自己的地铁网络。