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Chongqing Rail Transit

Overview
Native name	重庆轨道交通
Owner	Chongqing City Transportation Development & Investment (Group) Co., Ltd.
Area served	Chongqing Urban Area
Locale	Chongqing, China
Transit type	rapid transit straddle-beam monorail
Number of lines	8
Line number	Loop   1   2   3   4   5   6   10
Number of stations	181
Daily ridership	2.036 million (2017 Avg.)[1] 2.973 million (peak on 30 September 2018)[2]
Annual ridership	743 million (2017)[1]
Chief executive	Le Mei
Headquarters	123 Renming Rd., Yuzhong District, Chongqing
Website	http://www.cqmetro.cn
Operation
Began operation	6 November 2004 (trial) 18 June 2005 (officially)
Operator(s)	Chongqing Rail Transit (Group) Co., Ltd.
Number of vehicles	274[1]
Headway	2′30″ to 12′[1]
Technical
System length	311.8 km (193.7 mi)
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in)
Electrification	1500 V DC overhead line 1500 V DC third rail
Average speed	50 km/h (31 mph) 40 km/h (25 mph)[1]
Top speed	100 km/h (62 mph) 75 km/h (47 mph)
System map

The Chongqing Rail Transit, branded as CRT and also known as Chongqing Metro, is the rapid transit system in the city of Chongqing, China. In operation since 2005, it serves the transportation needs of the city's main business and entertainment downtown areas and inner suburbs. As of December 2018^[update], CRT consisted of eight lines, with a total track length of 311.9 km (193.8 mi).^[3] Lines 1, 4, 5, 6, 10 and Loop line are conventional heavy-rail subways, while Lines 2 and 3 are high-capacity monorails. To keep up with urban growth, construction is under way on Lines 9 and S5, in addition to extensions to Lines 1, 5, 6, 10 and Loop line. A network of 18 lines is planned.

The Chongqing Rail Transit is a unique transit system in China because of the geography of Chongqing being a densely-populated but mountainous city, with multiple river valleys. Two lines use heavy-monorail technology, leveraging the ability to negotiate steep grades and tight curves and rapid transit capacity. They are capable of transporting 32,000 passengers per hour per direction.^[4] At 98 km (61 mi),^[5] the system's two monorail lines form the longest monorail system in the world,^[6] with the 56.1 km (34.9 mi) Line 3 being the world's longest single monorail line even if the 11.0 km (6.8 mi) Airport branch is excluded.^[7][8] The length and the capacity of its monorail network both also make it the world's busiest monorail system, with a total of 94 million and 250 million rides in 2015 on Line 2 and Line 3, respectively.^[9] The latter ridership statistic for Line 3 also makes it the world's busiest single monorail line.

The extreme difference in elevation between the river valleys and the hilly plateaus of Chongqing pose a unique challenge in designing alignments for conventional rail transit lines. The network currently has the world's highest metro-only bridge, the Caijia Rail Transit Bridge for Line 6, spanning the Jialing River valley, with the bridge deck being approximately 100 m above the water.^[10]Hongtudi station is the deepest subway station in China and the second-deepest station in the world, after the Kiev Metro's Arsenalna, with Line 10's platforms being more than 94 m below the surface.^[11] Liyuchi station, also on Line 10, is the second-deepest station in China, being 76 m below the surface.^[12]

The Chongqing Rail Transit is also in the process of constructing a number of extremely-long metro-only suspension bridges. The Gaojiahuayuan Rail Transit Bridge carries the western arc of the Loop line over the Jialing River across a 577 m bridge with a main span of 340 m.^[13] The 1,650 m (5,410 ft) long Egongyan Rail Transit Bridge will carry the southern arc of the Loop line across the Yangtze River using a 600 m (2,000 ft) long suspension main span, making it the longest metro-only bridge by main span in the world.^[14] The Nanjimen Bridge will carry Line 10 trains across a 1,225 m (4,019 ft) cable-stayed bridge with a main span of 480 m (1,570 ft), making it the longest metro-only cable-stayed bridge by main span in the world, surpassing the Vancouver Skybridge in Canada.^[15] Finally, the Chongqing Metro has numerous double-deck bridges carrying vehicle and metro traffic, such as the Chaotianmen Bridge, which is the world's longest arch bridge.

Timelapse of the Chongqing Rail Transit.

Network

Line		Terminus (District)		Commencement	Newest extension	Rolling stock[Note 1]	Length (km)	Stations
	Loop	Chongqing Library (Shapingba)	Haixialu (Nan'an)	2018	N/A	6AS	33.7	18
	1	Xiaoshizi (Yuzhong)	Jiandingpo (Shapingba)	2011	2014	6B2	38.9	23
	2	Jiaochangkou (Yuzhong)	Yudong (Ba'nan)	2005	2014	4/6HL	31.4	25
	3	Yudong (Ba'nan)	Terminal 2 of Jiangbei Airport (Yubei)	2011	2016	6/8HL	56.1	45
		Bijin (Yubei)	Jurenba (Yubei)			6HL	11.0
	4	Min'an Ave. (Yubei)	Tangjiatuo (Jiangbei)	2018	2019	6AS	15.6	8
	5	The EXPO Garden Center (Yubei)	Dashiba (Jiangbei)	2017	2018	6AS	15.8	10
	6	Chayuan (Nan'an)	Beibei (Beibei)	2012	2015	6B2	63.3	33
		Lijia (Yubei)	Yuelai (Yubei)				12.6
	10	Liyuchi (Jiangbei)	Wangjiazhuang (Yubei)	2017	N/A	6AS	33.4	19
Sub-Total (Heavy-rail)							213.3	111[Note 2]
Sub-Total (Monorail)							98.5	70[Note 3]
Grand Total							311.8	181

Loop line

CRT Loop line's logo.

Line 1

CRT Line 1's logo.

Line 1 runs 16.4 km (10.2 mi) from Chaotianmen, in the central west, to Shapingba and then to Jiandingpo with a length of 38.9 km (24.2 mi). It has 23 stations, including interchange stations with Line 2, at Jiaochangkou in Jeifangbei CBD and Daping, and with Line 3, at Lianglukou, near Chongqing Rail Station, in the Caiyuanba section of central Yuzhong. It is the first heavy-rail subway line, the second in Western China. The passenger capacity is 36,000 passengers per hour in each way. The line serves as the system's backbone connecting the densest areas including the main Central Business Districts of Jiefangbei, Lianglukou, Daping, and Shapingba. It is the first conventional subway, running in a deep-bored tunnel below Yuzhong and Shapingba Districts.

In 1992, the Chongqing government signed a Build-Operate-Transfer agreement with a Hong Kong company and provided the land for the project, but work ceased in 1997 because of legal issues.^[16] Work resumed from Chaotianmen to Shapingba on 9 June 2009, and a limited opening occurred on 28 July 2011.^[17]Thales provided an operations control centre for the line.

Line 2

CRT Line 2's logo.

Zoo station, CRT Line 2.

Line 2, a monorail line, runs 31.4 km (19.5 mi) and has 25 stations. It begins as a subway under downtown Jiefangbei, then runs west along the southern bank of Jialing River on an elevated line, and then turns south into the southwestern inner suburbs, looping back east, to terminate at Yudong, in Ba'nan District. It runs mostly elevated, but a 2.2 km (1.4 mi) section is underground, including three of its 18 stations in the Jiefangbei CBD and central Daping areas in the extremely-dense area of Yuzhong District. Line 2 runs through four administrative districts in the central city (Yuzhong, Jiulongpo, Dadukou, and Ba'nan). In 2010, Line 2 served 45 million passengers.^[18] It also runs through Daping CBD and Yangjiaping CBD in Jiulongpo District and Chongqing Zoo at Zoo Station. Most trains have four cars, and six-car trains began to operate in September 2012.^[19] Line 2 is the first rapid transit line to open in the Interior West of China, in 2005. In 2013, six-car trains are being implemented because of overcrowding and increasing demand.^[20]

Line 3

CRT Line 3's logo.

Line 3 is the longest and busiest monorail in the world. It runs from north to south and links the districts separated by the Yangtze (Chang Jiang) and the Jialing Rivers. The initial segment, from Lianglukou to Yuanyang (18 stations, 17.5 km (10.9 mi)), opened on 29 September 2011, with a northern extension, from Yuanyang to Jiangbei Airport, opening on 30 December 2011.^[21] A southern extension, from Ertang to Yudong, opened on 28 December 2012.^[22]

Most trains have six cars, more than on the older Line 2. The line started to equip eight-car trains in 2014, which are now in operation.^[23] There are interchange stations in central Yuzhong district with Line 1, at Lianglukou (Caiyuanba Intercity Railway/Coach Station), and with Line 2, at Niujiaotuo.

Line 4

CRT Line 4's logo.

Line 5

CRT Line 5's logo.

Line 5 is a northeast-southwest heavy-rail line crossing the centre, and the northern section of phase 1, from the EXPO Garden Center to Dashiba. It connects Yubei, Jiangbei, Yuzhong, Jiulongpo and Dadukou districts, and the extension line from Tiaodeng (the southern terminal) to Jiangjin is under construction. New six-car trains were introduced on the line.

Line 6

CRT Line 6's logo.

Line 6 is the second heavy-rail subway. Opened on 28 September 2012, it connects Nan'an, Yuzhong, and Jiangbei Districts, in central Chongqing.

A northern branch, from Lijia to Wulukou, Beibei District, was opened on 31 December 2013,^[24] 26.2 km (16.3 mi) long with five stations. Phase 1 of the Chayuan extension was opened in 2014. Thales provided an operations control centre for the line.

Line 10

CRT Line 10's logo.

The line serves the North Railway station and the airport terminals. The first phase (Liyuchi to Wangjiazhuang) opened in 28 December 2017, and the second phase will connect Yuzhong and Nan'an District by crossing the Jialing and the Yangtze Rivers. Two new bridges, Zengjiayan Jialing River Bridge and Nanjimen Railway Bridge, are under construction for train services to the south.

Fares

Single-journey ticket

Tickets range from CN¥2 (0.3 USD) to ¥7 (1.04 USD), depending on the distance. Day passes cost ¥18 (2.66 USD).

Refund

Only unused tickets bought on the same day and at the same station can be refunded without an explanation. If the train was delayed for over 15 minutes, the tickets may be refunded, and a certificate of delay can be acquired.

Transport cards

CRT accepts Life & Transport Card (Chongqing Universal Card, released by Chongqing City Card Payment Co., Ltd.) and its compatible cards, released by partner companies in other cities of China. There is a 10% discount applied to the Regular Card if it is used on public transit in the city. The higher price is paid for transfers between the bus and the metro within 1 hour (not including metro-to-metro, according to the paying time). The Regular Card can be purchased at any CRT station, and a deposit can be recovered when the card is returned with its receipt. In addition the card can be used in many shops, cinemas, restaurants, etc. in Chongqing. The Students' Card and the Elders' Card can't be directly used on the metro since their monthly fee covers only buses unless a cash sub-account, which allows a 50% discount, is added to the cards for free at the service points.

Time limit

All trips must be completed in 3 hours upon entering the fare-paid area, or the highest ticket price in the system will be charged in addition.^[25]

Operation

For every terminal or branch terminal, the first train leaves at 6:30, and the last leaves at 22:30. During times of heavy use like for major events, CRT may close some stations to avoid overcrowding. In 2017, CRT closed Xiaoshizi, Jiaochangkou, Qixinggang, Lianglukou, Shapingba, Xiaolongkan, Linjiangmen, Huaxinjie, Guanyinqiao, Hongqihegou, Grand Theater, and Shangxinjie Station after 19:00 on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and New Year's Eve.^[26]

Wi-fi

Free Wi-fi is provided on most platforms and trains on Lines 1 and 6 at 5 GHz. An app, Heikuai (Chinese: 嘿快), is required.^[27]

Accessibility

Almost every station has accessible elevators and toilets, and almost every train has wheelchair locks. Only the oldest rolling stock and toilets of Line 2 are not fully accessible. In addition, many older interchange channels between lines are not designed with accessibility in mind, which means the disabled there must transfer by the main concourse.^[28]

Luggage rack

The trains on Line 10, which links Jiangbei Airport and Chongqing North railway station, are equipped with a luggage rack on each car.^[29]

History

The CRT is part of the central government's project to develop the Western regions. The Japan Bank for International Cooperation provided some of the funding.^[30] Construction was carried out, with co-operation between Changchun Railway Vehicles Co. Ltd. and Hitachi Monorail, which used advanced Japanese monorail technology.^[31] Construction on Line 2 began in 1999, and the line was officially opened in June 2005 from Jiaochangkou (Jiefangbei CBD) to Zoo (Chongqing Zoo).

Planning timeline

1946

The Nationalist government made a plan of high-speed tram system. The rail weighs 47.77 kg/m, with a rail gauge of 1000 mm, a maximum slope of 9%, a minimum radius of curvature of 80 m. The top speed is 25 km/h (16 mph) in the urban area and 45 km/h (28 mph) in the suburban area. The train was 8 m long, 1.8 m wide, with two 35-horsepower motors and a trailer. Each train took 240 passengers. The headway was designed to be 10 minutes. The system was expected to carry 1 million passengers per day. Some of the tracks were underground.

• Line A, Longmenhao – Ciqikou, 9 Stations, 14.75 km (9.17 mi)


• Line B, Longmenhao – Nanwenquan, 7 Stations, 19.49 km (12.11 mi)


• Line C, Longmenhao – Datiankan, 3 Stations, 6.9 km (4.3 mi)

1960

A 100 km-long (62 mi) underground rapid rail transit system, linking the city center with Xinpaifang, Xiaolongkan, Yangjiaping, Shiqiaopu, Lianglukou, etc., was planned.

1983

A 12.2 km-long (7.6 mi) subway line (Chaotianmen – Yangjiaping) was planned. It is the precursor to today's Line 2.

1991

A 55 km-long (34 mi) monorail system was planned.

• Chaotianmen – Shapingba (– Shuangbei), the forerunner of Line 1.


• Chaotianmen – Xinshancun (– Jiugongmiao), the forerunner of Line 2.


• Airport Line: Xinpaifang – Nanping (– Sigongli), the forerunner of Line 3.


• Link Line: Yangjiaping – Shiqiaopu.

1998

In a refreshed edition of the 1991 plan, the total length was about 119 km (74 mi).

• Line 1: Chaotianmen – Shuangbei.


• Line 2: Chaotianmen – Jiugongmiao.


• Line 3: Jiangbei Airport – Sigongli.


• Line 4: Sigongli – Shiqiaopu. (evolved from Link Line in the previous edition)


• Line 5: Tongjiayuanzi – Zhongliangshan.

2003 and 2007

Two similar expanded editions of the 1998 plan included 10 lines, with a total length of about 522 km (324 mi). Line 4 in the previous blueprint received a huge update and was renamed to Loop Line, according to its new shape.^[16]

2013

The current plan is an expanded edition of the 2007 plan, with a length of about 820 km (510 mi). Eight new lines were merged to the plan, with some minor modifications.^[32]

Testing timeline

The tests left some tunnels, which were reused in the construction of Lines 1 and 2.

• In late 1958, the "Yuzhong District Subway Engineering Unit" was started, only to be suspended one year later.


• In 1965, the unit was reinstated. It has 4 units, including more than 1000 workers in total. Construction was stopped again in late 1966 by the Cultural Revolution. The unit was officially disbanded again in 1971. The completed tunnel sections were taken over by the Civil Air Defense Department.


• In 1988, some Hong Kong businessmen arrived to start a metro company in Lianglukou. The original completed tunnel sections where extended.^[16]

Opening timeline

Technology

Visual design

Unlike most metro systems of other cities in China, CRT did not follow the design style of MTR Corporation in Hong Kong. The signage system was designed by GK Design Group in Japan, and the monorail lines are based on Hitachi Monorail technology. That gives the Chongqing Rail Transit a distinctive Japanese aesthetic, in contrast to other metro systems in China.^[34]

Line theme

CRT gave each line a theme about the local culture, and the stations on the line will have some art works in the theme.^[35]

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  Entrance 4 of Hongqihegou Station
  

  
  

  
  


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  The navigation boards at the concourse of Hongqihegou Station
  

  
  

  
  


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  The navigation board at the escalator of University Town Station
  

  
  

  
  


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  The navigation board at the platform of Tongjiayuanzi Station
  

  
  

  
  


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  The southern concourse of Xiaoshizi Station
  

  
  

  
  


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  The mural on the wall of Entrance 1 of Nanping Station
  

  
  

  
  


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  The platform of Lieshimu Station
  

  
  

  
  

Future

CRT is expected to have 8 lines criss-crossing the urban districts by 2020 and a loop line connecting the commercial areas in the urban area. The other 9 lines are expected to be in operation by 2050.^[32]

Projects under construction

Scheduled projects

Lines in long-term plan

See also

• Chongqing Suburban Railway


• List of metro systems


• List of monorail systems

References

Notes

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Chongqing Rail Transit.

• 
  Chongqing Rail Transit official website (in Chinese), Google translation
  


• 
  Chongqing Transport Card Info (in Chinese), Google translation
  


• UrbanRail.net's page on the Chongqing Rail Transit


• Map


• Photographs of Chongqing Rail Transit