Getting between Suzhou in Jiangsu and Shanghai has always been a right pain. Sufficiently distant to warrant a train ride, the hassle of going to either Shanghai Railway Station or Hongqiao Station simply seems pointless for a 15 or 20 minute journey.
For many people, and for many years, it’s always been too much hassle; they just take a taxi. That’s all about to change though, especially the part relating to the cost of the taxi.
All being well, the very first day of March, 2023, shall be marked by the start of trial operations on the much-discussed metro link between the two cities. It’s taken a decade of debate, particularly heated sometimes as to who is paying for what.
With that behind us, all eyes are now on Huaqiao Station, the terminus to Shanghai Metro Line 11, hitherto unremarkable other than for the fact that it technically lies in Kunshan City under the administration of Suzhou.
But a major facelift for the Station has brought with it the link to Line 11 on the Suzhou Rail Transit network.
Initially though, it was thought that the Line would be labelled as “S1”, with the “S” standing for “Sheng” (省; province), the City’s first intercity route. Think line S6 in our very own Nanjing that provides connectivity with neighbouring Zhenjiang City.
Yet, the authorities more recently felt it better if the Line were named Line 11, as perhaps an indication of its linkage with Shanghai. It remains to be seen whether this will clarify or confuse from a passenger’s perspective.
Whatever its moniker, the connection shall serve as the link between Huaqiao Station, soon to be common to both the Shanghai and Suzhou metro systems, and Weiting Station on Suzhou Rail Transit Line 3.
In recent days, the appropriate signage has been going up and the travelling public are getting their first glimpses as to what the future holds in terms of intercity transportation. Pretty fancy, if the imagery revealed by The Paper is anything to go by.
Among the stops along Suzhou’s Line 11 shall be Suzhou Industrial Park, Kunshan Central Urban Area, and Kunshan Economic and Technological Development Zone, making the Line essential for the area’s development.
In addition to Line 11, as of last month, there were six other Suzhou Rail Transit lines under construction. They comprise lines 6, 7, 8 and 10, together with extensions to lines 2 and 4. In all, that’s no less than 145 stations in the works.
