BEIJING, Dec. 21 (Xinhua) -- China has recently approved a bunch of rail transit projects in Shanghai, Hangzhou and Suzhou in a bid to accelerate the integration of transportation in the Yangtze Delta.
Approved by the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), China's top economic planner, six metro lines and three city rails will be built in Shanghai, with total investment estimated at about 298.35 billion yuan. The planning period for the nine projects is from 2018 to 2023.
A supplementary investment of about 14 billion yuan is granted to extend the Line 3 and Line 5 in the city of Hangzhou. An airport express line in the city will also be built, with investment of 41.98 billion yuan. The express line is designed with a total length of 58.5 kilometers, with the design speed of the express train at 120 km/h.
In August, Suzhou was approved to build four metro lines with total investment of 95 billion yuan, including an intercity one -- the Suzhou Metro Line S1, which will end at Huaqiao Station connecting to the Shanghai Metro Line 11. The total length of the four projects is 137 kilometers.
It is necessary to prioritize the integration of transportation in the integration of the Yangtze Delta, said Professor Zhang Xueliang, deputy dean of the School of Urban and Regional Science of Shanghai University of Finance and Economics.
Zhang believed that in addition to high-speed rails, municipal metro lines among cities should be upgraded and more interconnected. (Edited by Li Wenxin, liwenxin@xinhua.org)
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