Shanghai will extend the planned No. 9 Metro line to Chongming Island as part of an already started bridge and tunnel project linking the island to Pudong, a senior official announced yesterday.

The Metro line will run from Songjiang District in western Shanghai, through Xujiahui, and Waigaoqiao in Pudong. It will then be linked to Changxing Island by tunnel. From Changxing, it will run across a bridge to Chongming Island.

The city has announced that it plans to turn Chongming Island, the third largest island in China, into an ecological zone that will be ideal for tourism and international forums.

While many details of the Metro project haven't been worked out yet, the line is expected to be complete by 2010, according to Mao Jialiang, director of the Shanghai Urban Planning Administrative Bureau.

"We are planning to merge the new subway line with the tunnel and bridge connection to reach the island," Mao said.

Construction has already begun on the 8.9-kilometer tunnel connecting Pudong to Changxing Island.

"The tunnel will be a two-level tube - its upper level will be used for vehicles and its lower level has been reserved for the subway line," said Yu Sijia, director of the bureau's planning department.

Engineers haven't decided yet how the Metro line will be integrated into the planned 10.3-kilometer cable-stayed bridge connecting Changxing and Chongming.

"One possibility is to build the subway line in the middle of the bridge, dividing the traffic lanes into two parallel sections running in different directions," Yu said.

A 6.3-kilometer elevated highway will also be built on Changxing Island to link the tunnel with the bridge. Yu said city planners are still conducting a feasibility study of how to merge the subway with the bridge.

Officials wouldn't discuss the total length of the No. 9 Metro line, or say how much it will cost to build. Yu did say the addition of the subway line means the cost of the bridge and tunnel connection to Chongming will "soar."

Excluding the subway line, the entire tunnel-bridge connection was estimated to cost 12.6 billion yuan (US$1.56 billion).

Currently, the only way to get to Chongming Island from downtown Shanghai is by ferry, which takes at least two hours. Once the expressway is finished, people will be able to drive from Chongming to Pudong in about 30 minutes, officials said. They didn't say how long the trip is expected to take by subway.

Mao said that clean energy, particularly wind and solar power plants, will be used extensively on the island to protect its natural environment.

Chongming Island is located at the estuary of the Yangtze River, and covers 1,041 square kilometers.

(Shanghai Daily November 17, 2005)