No new Metro lines will open this year but Metro services will
be upgraded and extensive construction work will continue, a senior
Metro official said yesterday.
"We will improve our Metro services and shorten Metro intervals
this year," Ying Minghong, president of Shanghai Shentong Metro
Group told Shanghai Daily during the plenary session of the
Shanghai People's Congress.
He said more than five Metro lines and over 100 Metro stations
are being constructed this year.
Three new Metro lines 7, 10 and 11 will be opened before 2010,
giving the city's Metro system 11 lines covering 400
kilometers.
Ying said his group, which funds and manages the Metro system,
is well aware of overcrowding on the Metro.
He said his group will import more trains this year to meet the
demands of the increasing number of passengers, particularly those
living in Pudong.
By the year's end, at least eight new trains will be added to
the Metro Line 4, the city's only ring line, so that the average
interval between trains will be just five minutes. At present its
longest interval is more than 13 minutes.
Since the contracts to import extra trains are still being drawn
up, the number of new trains to be added this year is still not
known, Ying said.
More automatic ticket vending machines will be used in the
future and passengers will find it easier to buy tickets.
The number of manned ticket booths will be cut but Metro staff
will be around to help those who need it.
The city's Metro system jumped to a length of 234 kilometers
last year with three new lines put into use but they have not
relieved overcrowding.
During morning rush hour, some passengers, particularly on Metro
Line 6 in Pudong, have to wait for up to three trains to be able to
travel.
(Shanghai Daily January 29, 2008)