Wuhan Metro, China

The first metro line in Wuhan, the capital of the Hubei province of China, became operational in September 2004. Wuhan is located at the meeting point of two rivers, Han and Yangtze, and the main purpose of constructing the metro is to ease traffic congestion on the bridges across the river Yangtze.

Line 2 of the metro, which is soon to begin operation, will be partly underground, where as line 1 is completely elevated. The high-speed light rail project, managed by Wuhan Metro Group, aims to provide a fast, safe, energy-saving and dependable mode of transport.

Wuhan Metro Group project

Wuhan Metro will have eight lines in total. Line 1 is 29km long and covers 25 stations, carrying more than 220,000 passengers on 33 trains. The first phase of the line was opened in 2004, while phase II entered commercial service in July 2010. There are plans to extend line 1 a further 10km by 2014.

The first phase of Wuhan Metro line 2 will be 27.73km long with 21 stations, linking the Hankou and Wuchang Districts. The dual track fully electrified line will carry 60,000 passengers and is expected to cost Yuan 14.9bn ($2.37bn).

The first phase of line 4, which received a green signal from an expert panel, is set to connect Wuchang and Wuhan, and is due to open in 2012. Phase II will run under the Yangtze linking Hanyang, and open in 2015. The line will be 16.4km and cover 13 stations.

The metro system's remaining lines, of which the master plans have been approved by the National Development and Reform Commission, are in planning stage, with service commencement scheduled by 2017.

Wuhan Metro Group line routes

The first phase of the line 1, connecting Huangpulu with Zongguan station, was extended in 2010 to link Dijiao station to Huangpulu and Zongguen to Dongwudadao station. Line 2 is set to connect Hankou and Wuchang provinces, while line 3 will connect Tunyang Avenue with Hankou District.

Line 4 will connect the Wuchang and Wuhan Districts and will be constructed in two phases. The first of which will connect Wuchang and Wuhan railway stations, with the second phase starting from Wuchang rail station and ending at Hanyang Gold Mouth, passing via Zhang Zhidong Lu and Hanyang Avenue.

Line 7 will run between Tianhe Airport and South Lake, while Line 8 will connect Panlong Town with Yezhi Lake.

Tunnel construction on line 2 of the Wuhan metro

Line 2 is built partly in a tunnel under the Yangtze river, at a depth of 48m, and is located between the Fanhu and Hankou stations. The two ends of the tunnel have a gradient of 30%.

Construction of the tunnel was completed by February 2012, with excavation work done using a boring machine provided by NFM Technologies. It took three months to dig through the water clogged clay.

Wuhan Metro Group rolling stock

Line 1 of Wuhan Metro uses 33 trains supplied by Changchun Rail Car and China South Rail.

The first phase of Line 2, which can be extended in the future to include eight car trains, consists of 30 trains, with a 100km/h maximum speed, 80km/h operation speed and average speed of 36.6km/h. Coaches have an anti-corrosive aluminium and steel body.

Mute Metro cars manufactured by CSR Zhouzhou Electric Locomotive will be used as the rolling stock on Line 4. The traction motor and convertor system of the cars harness 20% of the noise, while the aluminium alloy honeycomb structure of the locomotives and double aluminium-alloy honeycomb floor will also reduce noise and make the coaches light and resilient.

Wuhan Metro Group signalling system

The signalling system for line 1 of Wuhan metro was provided by Thales. Other lines of the metro will be installed with URBALIS 888 signalling system provided by Alstom.

Bureau Veritas along with Casco Signal will provide signalling solutions and independent safety assessment service (ISA) for lines 2 and 4.