A senior official from the Chongming County of Shanghai said that construction work on Metro Line 19 will begin next year after the central government approves the project by the end of the year.
Line 19 will connect Chongming Island to the Pudong New Area across the Yangtze River.
Some early work for the new elevated subway has already been done which will help in lowering costs, said Ma Yuesheng, the county's party chief.
"Chongming residents will be able to take the elevated subway to Pudong by 2020," Ma said.
The new Metro line will mainly benefit taxi drivers, a third of whom live on the island.
As per the previous plan released by the city's top planning body, the new line will start from the Rongqiao Road station near Pudong's Jinqiao area and will have stops on the Changxing and Hengsha islands, the other two islands in the county.
The line will stretch further north and link to Qidong City in neighboring Jiangsu Province, according to the Shanghai Planning, Land and Resources Administration.
Travel time, costs cut
Sun Zhang, a professor at the Institute of Rail Transit at Tongji University, said bullet trains might be used on the line to cut the travel time from 90 to 45 minutes. Vehicles need more than two hours to make the trip now by road.
Currently, the island is connected to downtown by the Shanghai Yangtze River Bridge and a tunnel that costs 100 yuan for a private vehicle to go forth and back. Corporate vehicles have to pay 190 yuan (US$29.8)for a return trip.
Chongming and downtown residents have long complained about the high costs of reaching the island. Many taxi drivers are forced to rent places to live in downtown to avoid the long and expensive commute every day.
"The costs will be cut soon. The county's traffic authority has made plans to study how to maintain the bridge and tunnel at lower costs," Ma said.
Meanwhile, the island government said it will enclose some 50 square kilometers of tideland at the mouth of the Yangtze River to the East China Sea to make the Hengsha Island the second-largest island after Chongming.
The three islands will be developed into a top-level tourist spots to attract national and international visitors, Ma said.
The Chongming Island currently has three major national forest parks. The Changxing Island also features a major natural park.
