[Numbers on the Yangtze River Delta] Which of these 17 cities has the longest subway or rail transit and the largest passenger volume?

Recently, the west extension project of Line 17 has officially entered the track construction stage, which will further strengthen the connection between the Yangtze River Delta Integration Demonstration Zone and the central city of Shanghai.

In the past five years, the Yangtze River Delta has achieved good results in both intra-urban rail construction and cross-city connectivity.

According to the latest data released by the China Urban Rail Transit Association, the Yangtze River Delta urban agglomeration has the most dense urban rail transit line network in the country.

As of 2022, a total of 17 cities in the Yangtze River Delta have opened urban rail transit, with a total of 87 routes and an operating line length of 3,160.90 kilometers, accounting for 30.73% of the total length of the national line network, much higher than the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei, Pearl River Delta, Chengdu and Chongqing and other urban agglomerations.

Among them, Shanghai has the longest urban rail operation mileage in the country.

According to the latest data from the Ministry of Transport, as of September this year, Shanghai's urban rail transit operating mileage reached 825 kilometers, which is 18 and 215.2 kilometers longer than Beijing, the second place, and Guangzhou, the third place.

In terms of the number of operating lines, Shanghai ranks second in the country, second only to Beijing, and is the city with the most lines in the Yangtze River Delta.

From a development perspective, Hangzhou has built the fastest urban rail transit in the past five years.

Before 2020, Hangzhou had only 4 subway lines, with a length of only 130.9 kilometers, ranking 13th among the 37 cities with subways in the country at that time.

As of the end of 2022, Hangzhou's subway lines have reached 12, and the operating mileage has increased by 294.2% compared with 2019, ranking sixth in the country in terms of mileage.

In addition to provincial capital cities, many second- and third-tier cities in the Yangtze River Delta have also built urban rail transit.

Shaoxing, Wenzhou, Huai'an, Jiaxing and other cities have built at least one line in recent years. Among them, Shaoxing’s operating mileage reaches 57.8 kilometers, which is considered a leader among third-tier cities.

The densest urban rail transit network also carries a large passenger volume.

In September this year, Shanghai's urban rail transit passenger volume reached 307.559 million, making it the city with the largest passenger volume in the country. Hangzhou also ranks among the 9 cities in the country with a passenger volume of more than 100 million, ranking sixth in the country.

From the perspective of passenger transport intensity, the passenger transport efficiency of the head cities in the Yangtze River Delta is relatively high.

According to statistics, in September this year, the average level of urban rail transit passenger intensity nationwide was 5,300 passengers per kilometer per day. Shanghai far exceeds this level, reaching 12,400 passengers per kilometer per day.

The passenger traffic intensity of Hangzhou, Hefei, Nanjing and Suzhou is also higher than the national average.

Shanghai's passenger transport intensity is reflected in its departure intervals and cross-sectional passenger flow data during peak hours.

In 2022, during the peak period of the subway, the national average hourly minimum departure interval is 269 seconds. That is to say, there will be a subway every four and a half minutes on average. There are 17 lines across the country with minimum departure intervals of 120 seconds, which is an average of one train every 2 minutes. Among them, there are 4 in Shanghai, accounting for about a quarter.

In 2022, three of the 10 lines with the highest cross-sectional passenger flow during peak hours in the country are in Shanghai, namely Metro Line 9, Line 1 and Line 11. Line 9 ranks second in passenger flow in the country, with 56,800 passengers. .

In addition to developed railway trunk lines and intercity railways, three provinces and one city are also trying to connect rail transit between provinces and cities.

According to incomplete statistics, there are currently 8 inter-provincial municipal railways in the Yangtze River Delta, of which 2 have been opened to traffic and 6 are still under construction.

The earliest inter-provincial railway was Shanghai Line 11. On October 16, 2013, Shanghai Metro Line 11 opened the Huaqiao section for trial operation, becoming China's first inter-provincial rail transit line. Since then, there has been a direct link from Shanghai to Kunshan, Jiangsu.

In 2021, Zhejiang and Jiangsu will also open their first cross-city subways.

On June 28, 2021, the Hangzhou Metro Hanghai Intercity Railway and the Hangzhou-Shaoxing Intercity Railway were officially opened, connecting the rail transit networks of Hangzhou, Jiaxing, and Shaoxing; in December of the same year, Nanjing Metro Line S6 was officially opened to traffic, which was the first time in Jiangsu A cross-city rail transit line connecting Nanjing and Jurong, Zhenjiang.

In addition to existing routes, in terms of planning, intercity subway construction is centered on the metropolitan area and connects surrounding cities in series.

According to the "Multi-level Rail Transit Plan for the Yangtze River Delta Region" released by the National Development and Reform Commission on June 7, 2021, Shanghai and Nanjing are the core of cross-city rail transit construction, and both have four railways connected to the outside.

Among the six existing subway lines in Nanjing, two are planned to be cross-provincial, connecting Ma'anshan City and Chuzhou City in Anhui Province. In addition, although the Nanjing-Chuhe Line is within Nanjing City, it is still designed to connect the Ningxia-Chuzhou Line. Prepare.

Hangzhou, which is also the provincial capital, will also welcome two municipal railways, both of which run across the city, connecting Huzhou Deqing and Jiaxing Haining respectively. This is also the first time that Hangzhou city lines go out of Hangzhou and link up with surrounding strong counties.

Hefei's first cross-city subway line S1 is also expected to be put into trial operation by the end of 2025.

The existence of cross-city subways is a window for small cities and an opportunity for big cities. The connection between rail lines provides an outlet for breaking the restrictions of administrative divisions and promoting the complementarity of urban advantages. How to achieve mutual benefit in an interconnected transportation network and "transfer" inter-regional advantages is also an important issue in promoting the integration of the Yangtze River Delta.