Nanjing stands a chance of receiving its eighth metro line by the end of this year.
The Nanjing Metro Group announced this week that the new link, Line S3, previously known as Line 12, will in August enter into a period of testing that will last a minimum of 3 months, paving the way for a possible opening in November.
Line S3 shall link the Jiangbei New Area in Pukou District with Nanjing South Station, becoming the fourth metro line to have a terminus at the huge transportation hub.
The new line shall be Nanjing’s third to traverse the mighty Yangtze River, doing so via to the existing Dashengguan Bridge that was constructed to carry high speed trains between Beijing and Shanghai in addition to slower speed trains and soon, the new metro line service. All this is made possible by the bridge carrying three sets of lines in each direction, built to the requirements needed for each type of train.
The Dashengguan Bridge is one of the largest arch bridges in the world.
This first phase of Metro line S3 is 37.5 km in length, with a total of 19 stations, nine of which shall be elevated above ground, namely Tianbao, Liucun, Maluowei, Langhuatang, Shuanlong, Danshi Qihe, Qiaolin New City, Linshan and Gaojiachong.
The 10 stations located underground are Nanjing South Railway Station, Jingmingjia Yuan, Tiexin Qiao, Chunjiang Lu, Guxi, Youfang Qiao (intersection with Line 2), Yongchu Lu, Pingliang Dajie, Wuhou Jie and Gaomiao Lu.
In its second phase, Line S3 shall be extended to He County in neighbouring Anhui Province.
Long term Nanjing Metro supplier, French multinational Alstom and its local joint venture, Shanghai Alstom Transport Electrical Equipment Co. Ltd., are providing traction systems and associated services for the new line.
Yet, much remains to be done. Whereas the construction of a metro line in Nanjing typically takes 5 years, with Line S3 has overrun to 6 years, as its groundbreaking took place in late 2011.
Barring additional delays during testing, 2017 shall be the second year to have witnessed the opening of two metro lines. The feat was previously achieved with Lines S1 and S8, just in time for the Youth Olympics, also back in 2014.
While it has not been officially confirmed as yet, there is widespread speculation that the designated colour for the new line will be… pink.
