The construction of the EXPO Garden Center Station and the extension of Line 5 will be completed and open to traffic soon. The reporter visited the station on February 22 to learn more about the construction progress. (Photographed by Liu Yini / Visual Chongqing)

CHONGQING (CQNEWS) -- Chongqing has taken a historic step on the road to developing an economic circle connected by rails. According to the press conference on “Chongqing Rail Transit crossing 500 kilometers” held by the Municipal Government Information Office on February 23, the extension of CRT Line 5 will be completed and open to traffic soon. The total number of CRT routes will reach 12 and the total length of the CRT system in operation will break through 500 kilometers upon its completion. It means that Chongqing will boast the largest rail transit system for a mountainous city in the world.

Chongqing is a typical mountainous city with a large spatial scale and complex terrain, as a result of which most Chongqing residents suffer from long commutes. To solve this problem, Chongqing built its first rail transit line, Line 2, in 2004. It’s also the first rail transit line built in western China. Then, the urban rail transit network has been continuously extended.

At present, the urban area has been crisscrossed with CRT lines, and the operation of Chongqing’s engineering construction has reached its highest level in history, according to Yue Shun, the secretary and director of the Party Group of Chongqing Municipal Commission of Housing and Urban-Rural Development.

With a total length of 500 kilometers, the CRT system covers 284 stations across the whole urban areas and some areas in Jiangjin and Bishan Districts. It takes only five minutes for residents to arrive at the University Town from Bishan by rail transit, and 30 minutes from Jiangjin to the downtown area.

As an important means of communication for Chongqing residents, CRT has handled 8.37 billion passengers, and the maximum daily passenger volume reached 4.253 million. In 2022, the passenger volume of rail transit reached 910 million and accounted for 42% of public transport trips, ranking seventh in China.

CRT has won many first places both at home and abroad. For example, Line 2 is the first straddle monorail in China; Line 3 is the longest and the most efficient straddle monorail with the largest passenger volume in the world, which also develops a complete set of key technologies for rail transit construction in mountainous cities; the innovative As-type vehicles, dual-track vehicles, urban express rail, and other rail transit vehicles demonstrate the initiative and intelligent manufacturing of Chongqing.

For citizens, what does it mean to have a CRT system of more than 500 kilometers? According to the statistics, seven cities in China, including Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou, have a rail transit system of more than 500 kilometers by the end of December 2022. After the CRT system breaks through 500 kilometers, the transport capacity will climb to over six million passengers per day, which will undoubtedly provide more passengers with convenient and safe travel experiences.

By 2025, the total length of the CRT system in operation will exceed 600 kilometers (up to 616 kilometers), and the proportion of rail transit travel in public transport trips will exceed 50%. (Translated by Yuki, Fathom Language Limited)