Renovations set to bring faster Metro turnaround

A quicker turnaround for Metro trains is expected when redevelopment work is completed at Xinzhuang station, Shanghai officials said yesterday.

The station in Minhang District, the current terminus station for the city's Metro lines 1 and 5, is being transformed into a transport hub in a project set to take six years.

As part of this work, tracks at the station may be adjusted to shorten the time a train needs to empty of passengers and be made ready for the trip in the opposite direction.

New track arrangements could cut the time for the turnaround from more than three minutes for Line 1 at present to two minutes, said officials.

"Ideally, the train interval of Line 1 will be shortened," city Metro operator Shentong Group said yesterday.

"However, a detailed plan, including the redesign of the track structure in the station, has yet to be finalized."

Trains run on Line 1, the city's first and one of the busiest subway routes, as frequently as every 2 minutes 44 seconds at morning rush hour.

The Shanghai Development and Reform Commission this month approved the purchase by Shentong of 11 eight-carriage trains for the line to raise its capacity, which currently ferry about 1.2 million passengers a day.

Under the Xinzhuang station project, it will be built into a traffic hub and commercial center, taking up 700,000 square meters. It will link to the Shanghai-Hangzhou and Jinshan Railways, the city government said in June.