Advent of the“Era of Subway”:  Line 1 Opened to Traffic in Changchun

At 7:18, June 30, with the first subway train slowly set in motion, the first-stage project of Subway Line 1 of Changchun was officially opened to traffic. As the first subway line in Jilin Province and the third rail transit line put into operation in the wake of light rail Line 3 and Line 4, Line 1 of Changchun has been an infrastructure systems engineering attracting maximal investment and social attention and involving the widest range of aspects. As a consequence, the moment of opening to traffic is of milestone significance and is destined to go down to the history of urban development of Changchun.

With the red-and-white body design, the vehicle for Line 1 looks rounded and streamlined and is equipped with all safety, instruction and convenience facilities. Trains for Line 1 are cold-resistant enough to combat the severe cold in Changchun during wintertime and can operate at minus 35 degrees Celsius, thereby being crowned as“Little Snow Leopard”. In addition, the aluminum alloy body of the train has made“Little Snow Leopard”the lightest vehicle in China. On that day, Secretary of Jilin provincial Party committee Bayanqolu and Governor Liu Guozhong, together with some townspeople, tried the test drive onboard the train, learning about the preparations for the opening of the line to traffic and listening to the report on rail transit planning and construction.

Construction of the first-stage project of Line 1 was started in Changchun in September 2011, and the hot slide test was conducted at the end of September last year. Started at the Chenglu Station at the north ring road and ended at the Hongzuizi Station in the south, the line has been laid along the Renmin Avenue, the central axis of Changchun, and stretches as long as 18.14 kilometers, all underground. Meanwhile, design and decoration of the stations has been blended with public space art with“Urban Memory”as the theme. There are 15 stations along the line, with each station built with theme culture walls suited to regional culture. Onboard the train, passengers can get to know the achievements made by the over 200-year-old city in terms of movie, automobile, industry and culture, etc. While enjoying the amenities of modern public transport means, passengers can view and feel distinctive regional characteristics and humanistic atmosphere of Changchun.

UCD won the bidding of the general contract project for survey and design of Subway Line 1 of Changchun in 2009. On the lines of the UCD concept of“professionalization, innovation, efficiency and dedication”, the design team of the Changchun branch of Institute of Rail Transit (IRT), headed by IRT Director Yu Songwei, worked day in and day out for the utmost perfection and ensured the opening of the Line 1 as scheduled, and the team won“Excellent Survey and Design Award”for the construction of Subway Line 1 of Changchun.

The success and honor has been“built up”bit by bit by UCD leaders and“piled up”by the designers with more than one hundred thousand drawings. Nonetheless, the operation of Line 1 is but a beginning. In the future, Line 2 and the North Lake first-stage light rail project will come into service successively. Line 1 of Changchun will carry the wisdom, feelings and perseverance of UCD people forward to the future.