Metro Line 2 will add 21 new trains for its eastern extension that will begin trial operations before World Expo 2010, a Shanghai news Website reported.

The line has 17 stations and 25 trains now while it will add 12 more stations in the extension to Pudong International Airport.

The new trains, jointly manufactured by Shanghai Alstom Company and Nanjing Puzhen Metro Train Company, have eight cars, two more than current trains on Line 2, Eastday.com said.

Each of the new subway trains has a capacity of about 550 passengers, about 30 percent more than the older ones.

Five of the trains have been transferred to the city and are awaiting tests, the report said.

Construction on the eastern extension of the line will begin this year, previous reports said.

The eastern extension will be 30.8 kilometers and link Longyang Station to Pudong International Airport.

Nine stations for the extension will be built underground, two will be elevated and one will be at ground level.

Construction designers also plan to extend Metro Line 2 west to Hongqiao International Airport so that it will take only one hour and 20 minutes to travel between Hongqiao Airport and Pudong Airport.

The city will add a total of 137 trains, including 21 for Line 2, to the city's eight Metro lines before 2010, the report said.

Shanghai plans to build 10 new Metro lines between 2005 and 2012, stretching 389 kilometers. The city Metro system is expected to span 510 kilometers by 2012.

(Shanghai Daily April 15, 2008)