This Day, That Year

40 years on

On Oct 16, 2013, a subway line linking Shanghai and Jiangsu province started trial operations, as seen in an item in China Daily.

The development saw the Shanghai Metro become the first rapid transit system in China to provide a cross-provincial service.

The route, an extension of Line 11 of the Shanghai subway network, links the country’s Editor’s note: This year marks the 40th anniversary of China’s reform and opening-up policy. commercial hub with Kunshan, a booming city in Jiangsu.

Since it opened in 1983, the Shanghai Metro has expanded to become the world’s longest subway network, stretching 673 kilometers.

Its rapid expansion reflects the country’s subway construction boom, with many cities building networks to ease traffic congestion.

Suzhou and Wuxi, both in Jiangsu, have outlined rapid transit rail routes to connect with the Shanghai Metro.

China’s first subway started running in Beijing in 1969, and only four cities, including Shanghai, Tianjin and Guangzhou, Guangdong province, had metro rail systems before 2003.

The National Development and Reform Commission has approved 43 projects so far, and the total length of urban rail transit systems in operation is expected to reach 8,600 km by 2020.

Beijing has 22 urban railway lines, with a total length of 608 km. More than 10 million passengers ride the city’s subway trains every weekday. The capital plans to extend the network to 1,000 km by 2020.

In July, the State Council, China’s Cabinet, released guidelines to control the subway construction craze. It requires urban authorities to meet higher standards in fiscal revenue, permanent populations and economic size before getting approval from the central government.

Experts said the guidelines aim to help control local debt in the campaign to guard against major risks, including rising financial leverage.