Tomorrow, 29 November, shall see ground broken on Nanjing Metro Line 7. Nothing that remarkable there, we might think, until that is, we are told that Line 7 will be driverless.
As the first fully automated unmanned metro line in Jiangsu province, Line 7 is expected to be completed and open for public use by the end of 2021.
Project Engineer for Nanjing Metro Line 7, Liu Jiangtao, explained to reporters that the entire line shall be able to utilise the “cut and cover” method of constructing tunnels, whereby a deep trench is dug into the ground, that is later covered up after the tunnel has been installed. This way of building metro lines is vastly cheaper than full-scale tunnelling.
The only exception shall be where the line is required to go through Qingliangshan, where the hilly terrain means that there is no other option than to tunnel through.
The first ground to be broken tomorrow evening shall be along Taishan Lu, in Nanjing’s Olympic area. The first phase involves relocating trees and underground pipelines to make room for the new line, while construction shall also begin on the station shells.
While the prospect of driverless trains running underneath us on the Nanjing Metro system is undoubtedly an exciting prospect, many commuters have their concerns. Vivi Huan, a frequent user of the metro, told The Nanjinger she would not be taking Line 7; “I worry that without that additional level of human control, safety levels will be lower”.
Running in a northeast-southwest direction, Line 7 shall be approximately 35 kilometres long, with 27 stations, including interchanges with lines 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 9, 10, 13 and S3. Of those presently in existence, Line 7 will link with Line 2 at Mochouhu, Line 3 at Wutangguangchang and Line 10 at Zhongsheng.
