The first of 16 eight-carriage subway trains was towed to Shanghai from Nanjing, Jiangsu Province yesterday, as Metro operators try to reduce crowding and cut the interval between trains along Metro Line No. 1.

The new trains, which have two more carriages than trains currently in operation, are being built by a consortium of Alstom SA, Shanghai Alstom Transport Co and Nanjing Puzhen Vehicle Factory.

Shanghai Metro Operation Company bought 16 trains from the consortium two years ago for 1.3 billion yuan (US$162.5 million) in total.

After two months of testing, the first new train will be put into use by the end of this year.

The remaining 15 trains will be towed to the city in several batches through the end of 2007 and are expected to be put into use by early 2008.

"With the new trains coming, the longest interval between Metro Line No. 1 trains is expected to be shrunk from the current nine minutes to six minutes," said Chen Chao, a project manager with SMOC.

He said the new trains can carry 3,280 passengers at a time, an increase of about 30 percent from the current six-carriage trains.

The new trains are also equipped with a more powerful air-conditioning system and each carriage has a device that allows passengers to talk with the driver in the event of an emergency.

Metro Line No. 1, which connects many northern residential complexes and the Shanghai Railway Station, is the city's busiest Metro line. Carriages are always overpacked during rush hours and even on weekends.

The city government is aware of the problem and is planning to solve it by importing trains and adding carriages over the next few years.

One of the goals is to reduce the average interval between trains on the No. 1 and No. 2 lines to two minutes during rush hours by 2008, down from 2 1/2 minutes at present.

Shanghai Shentong Holdings Company, a major investor in the city's Metro lines, also plans to add 12 new trains to the No. 2 line. The trains will mainly be imported by German company Siemens and French company Alstom.

(Shanghai Daily September 4, 2006)