Nanjing Metro

First proposals

In 1984 the first serious proposal for construction of a subway appeared in the Municipal People's Congress. On April 1986, the Nanjing Integrated Transport Planning group was established to research on how to implement a subway system in Nanjing. On December 1986 the team published the "Nanjing Metro Initial Phase". The phase consists of a north–south line, east–west line and a diagonal Northwest to Southeast line. The three lines meet in the city center forming a triangle. A revision of the "Nanjing City Master Plan" in 1993 added another line through the urban core, and three light metro lines connecting Nanjing's suburbs in Pukou and the proposed new airport. In addition a suburban railway to Longtan was proposed. A 1999 report on "Nanjing city rapid rail transit network planning" further proposed six subway lines, two subway extensions and three light metro lines.

In 1994, the State Planning Commission approved the preparatory work for the subway only to have the entire metro project postponed in 1995 amid a national freeze on new metro projects.

Major changes were made to "Nanjing Urban Rail Transit Network Planning" in 2003. The new master plan consisted of 13 lines, of which nine are subway lines and four are light metro lines. The new Line 6 will be a loop line connecting all the urban radial lines. The plan retained the original lines 1, 2 and 3 from the previous plan. According to the new plan, the initial phase would consist of the completion of Metro Line 1 and 2 by 2010. Together the two lines will form a basic "cross" network. By 2020 the completion of Lines 1, 2, 3, and 4 was to form a more robust "pound" (#) network. Longer term plans include the construction of a loop line connecting all existing lines. The plan also identified four subway lines crossing the Yangtze river.

First line

The initial section of Line 1 from Maigaoqiao to Xiaohang received final official approval in 1999. In May 2000, the Experimental Station resumed construction with the entire Line 1 project in full construction in December.

A western extension of Line 1 from Xiaohang to a newly built stadium was fast tracked after Nanjing won hosting the National Games. Line 1's initial section and the western extension started trial operations in September 3, 2005, running from Maigaoqiao to Olympic Stadium with 16 stations and a total length of 21.72 kilometers (13.50 mi). The opening of the Nanjing Metro Line 1 gave Nanjing the sixth metro system in the Chinese mainland after Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen.

Line 1

Line 1 runs mainly in a north–south direction. The line starts at Maigaoqiao station in the north, heading southwards to CPU (China Pharmaceutical University). The construction of Line 1 began in the year 2000 and was inaugurated on September 3, 2005, with 16 stations and a length of 21.72 kilometers (13.50 mi). On May 28, 2010, Line 1's 24.5-kilometer (15.2 mi) long south extension entered into operation. Thus, before the transfer of Line 1's Olympic Sport Center Branch to Line 10, Line 1 was 46.2-kilometer (28.7 mi) long with 31 stations. The Olympic Sport Center branch line broke away from Line 1 and formed parts of Line 10, when the latter's construction finished and entered operation in July 1, 2014. Currently, Line 1 is 38.9-kilometer (24.2 mi) long and has 27 stations.

Line 2

Line 2 is 37.95-kilometer (23.58 mi) long and has 26 stations. It runs mainly in an east–west direction, from Youfangqiao Station in the southwest to Jingtianlu Station in the northeast. It entered into operation on May 28, 2010.

Line 3

Groundbreaking work for Line 3 started in January 2010. This line, with a north–south orientation, started operation on April 1, 2015 and is 44.9 kilometres (27.9 mi) in length with 29 stations.

Line 4

Construction of east-west Line 4 was began in late 2012 and the first phase entered operation on January 18, 2017. The completed portion is 33.75 kilometers (20.97 mi) in length.The line is known as A Zi (the Purple) as the branding for the line and the train color is purple, the first of which were delivered in April 2015. The line started operation on January 18, 2017.

Line 10

Line 10 is a western extension from Line 1's Olympic Stadium branch line, which broke away from Line 1 and formed part of Line 10 when the new line was completed. Construction started in February 2012, finished in 2014. The line is approximately 21.6-kilometer (13.4 mi) long with 14 stations, and entered operation in July 1, 2014.

Line S1

Originally called Metro Line 6, Line S1 or the Ninggao Intercity Rail Line acts as Nanjing's airport express line, connecting Nanjing South Railway Station to Gaochun District via Nanjing Lukou International Airport. The entire line was planned to be 85.8-kilometer (53.3 mi) long with 13 stations. The first phase from Nanjing South to Lukou International Airport started construction in December 27, 2011, and finished in 2014. The first phase opened in July 1, 2014. It is 35.8-kilometer (22.2 mi) long with 8 stations. Advanced signalling and urban rail traffic management systems were delivered to the line in time for the Nanjing 2014 Summer Youth Olympics by Thales Saic Transportations. A second phase extension totaling 52-kilometer (32 mi) is expected to open in 2016.

Line S8

Originally planned as Metro Line 11, Line S8 or the Ningtian Intercity Rail Line is an intercity metro line connects Luhe District to Pukou District. The Line is 45.2-kilometer (28.1 mi) long, 34.1 kilometers (21.2 mi) of the line is elevated. The line features 17 stations including 6 underground stations and 11 elevated ones. It uses B size trains in 4 car sets that are capable of running up to 100 kilometers per hour (62 mph). Construction of the line started on June 21, 2012 and it was officially opened on August 1, 2014.

Line 5

Line 5 received approval on 14 January 2015. The line is projected to be 37.4 kilometers (23.2 mi) long, have 29 stations and to cover a route from Fangjiaying Station in Gulou District to Jiyindadao Station in Jiangning District.

Line S3

Line S3 is expected to open in 2017. Originally planned as Metro Line 12 or the Ninghe Intercity Rail Line, the route started construction in late 2011 as a connection between urban Nanjing and He County in neighboring Anhui Province. Phase one will be 37.53 kilometers (23.32 mi) long with 18 stations and will connect Nanjing to Jiangbei Vice City.

Line S9

Line S9 is an extension of line S1 (Airport Line) that will start from Xiangyulunan station; the 6th station from Nanjing South Railway Station, and extend further south, to Gaochun District, for the total length of 85.8 km.

Ticket system

Like many metro systems in the world, fares on the Nanjing Subway are distance-based. Fares range from 2 yuan (approx USD $0.30) for journeys under 8 stations, to 4 yuan for longer journeys. There is a 5% discount for users of the Nanjing Public Utility IC Card.

Single tickets

Single journey tickets can be purchased from the ticket vending machine or at a ticket window. The ticket vending machine accepts both coins and bills (¥5 and ¥10).

Transit card

Apart from one-way tickets, fares can be paid with the Nanjing Public Utility IC Card, or Jinlingtong (Chinese: 金陵通; pinyin: Jīnlíngtōng). It can be purchased for a refundable fee of 25 yuan (about 3.8 dollars) and refilled at ticket booths inside the metro stations as well as many collaborative convenience stores throughout the city. The card can be used to pay for other means of public transportation, such as the city taxi and the city bus.

This transit card is similar to Beijing's Yikatong, London's Oyster Card, Chicago Card of the CTA, the SmarTrip of the Washington Metro, and the Octopus card of Hong Kong's MTR.

Rolling stock

Signaling system

For Line 1, Siemens Transportation Systems (TS) was awarded the supply contract in November 2002.

For Line 2, Siemens Transportation Systems (TS) and its local partner Nanjing Research Institute of Electronic Technology (NRIET) have been awarded to supply the signaling system after signing a contract (about 25 million Euro). Technologies used include Trainguard MT, Vicos OC 501, Sicas ECC and Az S 350 U axle counting system.