China is killing it on this chart of the world's biggest metro systems

[ahojunk]

Exactly. Wuhan had only 1 line from 2003 to 2012，only 100,000 passengers per day. But now we have 3 lines(95km, 1.3 million passengers per day, Line2 in 2012, Line4 in 2013), and this year Line3 and one intercity HSR, Line 6 in 2016 and Line 7&8 in 2017.
It's a process. Beijing had only 2 lines for several decades.
Now a lot of 2nd tier or 3rd tier cites have just opened their first or second line. Long way to go! But I am very confident, we have too many people and very high demand.

Guangzhou Metro in 2014
View attachment 211246

Guangzhou Metro in 2018
View attachment 211245

@AndrewJin,
Wishing your dear hometown, Wuhan all the best.
In fact, I don't really need to because China has a massive record of putting in infrastructure, be it HSR, subways, bridges, tunnels, etc.
I am confident it will happen for Wuhan ...

This map was dated in 2011. Has Guangzhou become a supercity of 42 million?
If it has, it is going to have the biggest metro.

Well I got it from a news article
Delhi Metro to become 7th largest network in 2016 - timesofindia-economictimes

@Ammyy,
This is impressive. From what I gather, the Delhi subway began in 2002. It is a massive achievement considering it is only 13 years old, today.

 

[AndrewJin]

@AndrewJin,
Wishing your dear hometown, Wuhan all the best.
In fact, I don't really need to because China has a massive record of putting in infrastructure, be it HSR, subways, bridges, tunnels, etc.
I am confident it will happen for Wuhan ...

View attachment 211389

This map was dated in 2011. Has Guangzhou become a supercity of 42 million?
If it has, it is going to have the biggest metro.



@Ammyy,
This is impressive. From what I gather, the Delhi subway began in 2002. It is a massive achievement considering it is only 13 years old, today.

Honestly, we are too slow. In developing countries, metro comes after some extent of development. In that case, we have to pay at least half of the investment for compensation. Compensation and free apartments are of course beneficial for those who have lost their living space.
In most developed countries, metro and suburban rails were built first, and then real estate was attracted.

@Yizhi Concerning Guangzhou, politically, it has 13 million inhabitants(8-9million with a local ID). My biggest concern is not their metro system, but suburban rail and intercity lines. I'd rather compare Pearl River Delta to greater Tokyo(35 million inhabitants), which has 3000 km metro/suburban lines. However, as I've said, development comes first before massive railway construction, megacities and city clusters in China and other developing countries have missed a pivotal phase. Now, greedy house owners and overpriced compensation, bus company and expressway company lobbyists, and other administrative hindrances are making the future projects extremely difficult.
The only consolation for me is Pearl River Delta's awesome expressways.

But the railway network is very limited for its population and not enough projects under construction.
normal lines+HSR lines

HSR Network of Pearl River Delta

 

[Yizhi]

Honestly, we are too slow. In developing countries, metro comes after some extent of development. In that case, we have to pay at least half of the investment for compensation. Compensation and free apartments are of course beneficial for those who have lost their living space.
In most developed countries, metro and suburban rails were built first, and then real estate was attracted.

@Yizhi Concerning Guangzhou, politically, it has 13 million inhabitants(8-9million with a local ID). My biggest concern is not their metro system, but suburban rail and intercity lines. I'd rather compare Pearl River Delta to greater Tokyo(35 million inhabitants), which has 3000 km metro/suburban lines. However, as I've said, development comes first before massive railway construction, megacities and city clusters in China and other developing countries have missed a pivotal phase. Now, greedy house owners and overpriced compensation, bus company and expressway company lobbyists, and other administrative hindrances are making the future projects extremely difficult.
The only consolation for me is Pearl River Delta's awesome expressways.
View attachment 211469

But the railway network is very limited for its population and not enough projects under construction.
normal lines+HSR lines
View attachment 211468

HSR Network of Pearl River Delta
View attachment 211470

yes my family are all intensive users of Guangdong expressways....and with a BYD hybrid now the electricity cost is like 1/10 of what we used to spend on oil, even cheaper than public transportation most of the time plus it's environmentally friendly.

that being said, i still wish for more well-planned intercity lines connecting not only Guangzhou Shenzhen, the highly developed megas over 10 million ppl, but also other cities like Huizhou, Zhuhai etc. we need both railways and expressways. it's stupid to force the public to choose one over the other although i understand the politics behind it.

 

[Shotgunner51]

Shanghai continues its relentless expansion!
By now, we have invested $150 billion and have 560 km in operation.
By 2020 total 863 km will be operational.
And will continue to expand.

 

[Echo_419]

Good for Delhi!!
Countries like China and India need huge metro construction.
Late this year, we in Wuhan will welcome our fourth line and another intercity HSR to the airport and satellite cites.


But not sure about "7th", Wuhan has huge potential!

Chinese experience & funds will be welcomed for construction of Metros in India
On topic
That's real big

 

[Shotgunner51]

Beijing Metro will continue to be the world number 2 biggest network by 2050.

 

[AndrewJin]

Beijing Metro will continue to be the world number 2 biggest network by 2050.

View attachment 211644 View attachment 211645

Our pivotal focus is 2nd & 3rd tier cities in China, Nanjing, Wuhan, Kunming, Chongqing and Kunming have at least three lines, and Xi'an, Chengdu, Shenyang and more cities have one or two lines. We are too slow! We have to accelerate construction of these new metro systems before the prices become too high to be afforded.
btw, my apartment will be torn down in 3 years

Chinese experience & funds will be welcomed for construction of Metros in India
On topic
That's real big

Honestly, out priority is till domestic demand, we have more than twenty metro systems in China now(at least one line), another 10-20 new are being built, and more than 20 are under discussion. Too many people and too many new city dwellers from the countryside, I think you must have the same feelings in India, a process of rapid urbanisation!
But of course, we should invest, metro lines construction, metro cars, and etc. No one will neglect an emerging market.

 

[Shotgunner51]

Our pivotal focus is 2nd & 3rd tier cities in China, Nanjing, Wuhan, Kunming, Chongqing and Kunming have at least three lines, and Xi'an, Chengdu, Shenyang and more cities have one or two lines. We are too slow! We have to accelerate construction of these new metro systems before the prices become too high to be afforded.
btw, my apartment will be torn down in 3 years

Exactly brother, actually Metro is expanding massively all over the country!

• By January 2015 we have metros in 22 cities (see the list, excluding the 3 cities of Hong Kong 香港, Taipei 台北 and Kaohsiung 高雄)
• By 2020 metro will be operational in over 45 Chinese cities!

1. 北京地铁 Beijing
2. 上海地铁 Shanghai <--- @shotgunner51
3. 广州地铁 Guangzhou
4. 深圳地铁 Shenzhen
5. 天津地铁 Tianjin
6. 重庆地铁 Chongqing
7. 哈尔滨地铁 Harbin
8. 长春地铁 Changchun <-- @Yizhi
9. 沈阳地铁 Shenyang
10. 南京地铁 Nanjing
11. 成都地铁 Chengdu
12. 西安地铁 Xi'an
13. 苏州地铁 Suzhou
14. 昆明地铁 Kunming
15. 杭州地铁 Hangzhou
16. 武汉地铁 Wuhan <-- @AndrewJin
17. 郑州地铁 Zhengzhou <-- @StarCraft_ZT
18. 长沙地铁 Changsha
19. 宁波地铁 Ningbo <-- @yusheng
20. 无锡地铁 Wuxi
21. 青岛地铁 Qingdao
22. 大连地铁 Dalian

 

[Götterdämmerung]

What Chinese cities lack is an S-Bahn or RER system. It takes much too long to get from the suburb into the city if you have to take the metro.

 

[AndrewJin]

What Chinese cities lack is an S-Bahn or RER system. It takes much too long to get from the suburb into the city if you have to take the metro.

Agree. We have some in Wuhan, and a new intercity line to the suburb/airport/satellite cites will be open this year.
But, I feel worried about construction of these sort of S-Bahn in China. Cause they are after all railways, it will face huge hindrance in land acquisition. Now, more than half of the metro investment is for compensation for citizens, how did Berliner build their S-Bahn?

Exactly brother, actually Metro is expanding massively all over the country!

• By January 2015 we have metros in 22 cities (see the list, excluding the 3 cities of Hong Kong 香港, Taipei 台北 and Kaohsiung 高雄)
• By 2020 metro will be operational in over 45 Chinese cities!

1. 北京地铁 Beijing
2. 上海地铁 Shanghai <--- @shotgunner51
3. 广州地铁 Guangzhou
4. 深圳地铁 Shenzhen
5. 天津地铁 Tianjin
6. 重庆地铁 Chongqing
7. 哈尔滨地铁 Harbin
8. 长春地铁 Changchun <-- @Yizhi
9. 沈阳地铁 Shenyang
10. 南京地铁 Nanjing
11. 成都地铁 Chengdu
12. 西安地铁 Xi'an
13. 苏州地铁 Suzhou
14. 昆明地铁 Kunming
15. 杭州地铁 Hangzhou
16. 武汉地铁 Wuhan <-- @AndrewJin
17. 郑州地铁 Zhengzhou <-- @StarCraft_ZT
18. 长沙地铁 Changsha
19. 宁波地铁 Ningbo <-- @yusheng
20. 无锡地铁 Wuxi
21. 青岛地铁 Qingdao
22. 大连地铁 Dalian

Find this, still, TOO SLOW except for Beijing and Shanghai.

 

[Götterdämmerung]

Agree. We have some in Wuhan, and a new intercity line to the suburb/airport/satellite cites will be open this year.
But, I feel worried about construction of these sort of S-Bahn in China. Cause they are after all railways, it will face huge hindrance in land acquisition. Now, more than half of the metro investment is for compensation for citizens, how did Berliner build their S-Bahn?


Find this, still, TOO SLOW except for Beijing and Shanghai.
View attachment 211655

Berlin's S-Bahn was started about 100 years ago. All big cities in Germany have an S-Bahn system. Newer systems, e.g. In Hanover, they just coverted the existing railway into S-Bahn and build new stations where it is needed.

 

[Echo_419]

Our pivotal focus is 2nd & 3rd tier cities in China, Nanjing, Wuhan, Kunming, Chongqing and Kunming have at least three lines, and Xi'an, Chengdu, Shenyang and more cities have one or two lines. We are too slow! We have to accelerate construction of these new metro systems before the prices become too high to be afforded.
btw, my apartment will be torn down in 3 years


Honestly, out priority is till domestic demand, we have more than twenty metro systems in China now(at least one line), another 10-20 new are being built, and more than 20 are under discussion. Too many people and too many new city dwellers from the countryside, I think you must have the same feelings in India, a process of rapid urbanisation!
But of course, we should invest, metro lines construction, metro cars, and etc. No one will neglect an emerging market.

Chinese companies make many components more cheaply that others & not to forget you guys are loaded so any investment is Indian MRT systems will be welcome

 

[AndrewJin]

Berlin's S-Bahn was started about 100 years ago. All big cities in Germany have an S-Bahn system. Newer systems, e.g. In Hanover, they just coverted the existing railway into S-Bahn and build new stations where it is needed.

That's why they are nearly impossible in China.
The only solution may be(already done in Shanghai) is to operate some fast train on metro lines. And in suburban areas, prolong the interval and speed up.

Chinese companies make many components more cheaply that others & not to forget you guys are loaded so any investment is Indian MRT systems will be welcome

I heard CSR has already exported metro cars to India and won a bid for Mumbai's subway trains. But do you have any plan of founding your own manufacturing? CSR&CNR have already build our own metro trains and also exported to Boston, Singapore, etc. It's a high value-added industry which stimulates a lot of relevant sectors and technological innovation.

 

[Shotgunner51]

What Chinese cities lack is an S-Bahn or RER system. It takes much too long to get from the suburb into the city if you have to take the metro.

Your advice is appreciated, Danke!

That's partly merged into the existing metro system. Due to the high-density in downtown, high density of stations are built there (station to station mostly around 1~2 km intervals), and 100% rails are built underground, it's a very dense matrix. Once it gets out of downtown, called Line Extensions (延伸线), density of stations drop, longer station intervals, and rails could be built above ground (like S-Bahn or any above-ground light rail). So it will speed up suburban commuting to the downtown metro matrix. Note that Shanghai urban planning is quite unique (resemblance to Tokyo, Hong Kong), a ultra-high-density downtown, and low-density suburbs grouped into many townships and municipal functional centers (Pudong airport, Jinshan Sea Port, Chongming preservation zone).

Then some lines are purposely built to link downtown matrix to satellite centers like airports, very few stops, high speed.

Also, HSR is playing supplementary role. HSR have both express trains that only stop at provincial capitals, and those make frequent stop-by at smaller suburban centers between the big capitals.

 

[AndrewJin]

Also, HSR is playing key role. HSR have both express trains that only stop at provincial capitals, and those make frequent stop-by at smaller suburban centers between the big capitals.

It's called intercity(160-250km/h)

Now, the problems lie in how to integrate these intercity lines with an existing metro system: administrative barriers between railway bureaus and metro companies; how to simplify interchanging between these two systems; how to subsidise intercity lines by local government.
Shanghai's Shanghai South----Jinshan intercity is a good example, but still, far from satisfactory compared to S-Bahn in Germany and suburban lines in Tokyo.