Changchun, a New Member of the Cities Each Equipped with a One-Hundred-Kilometer Rail Transit Network

After a lengthy period of five years, the first-stage project of the Rail Transit Line 8 was completed and opened for trial operation in Changchun at 8:08 on Oct. 30th, 2018, marking the entry of Changchun, capital of Northeast China’s Jilin Province, into the cities that are each equipped with rail transit networks of one hundred kilometers. UCD served as the general contractor for the construction of Line 8, a new line opened right after the completion of Line 2 this year.

Constructed by means of overhead laying, the first-stage project of Line 8 extends a total of 13.3 kilometers, with 12 stops established. Zigzagging in the northeast of Changchun, the line connects such advantageous sectors as industries, science & technology, people’s livelihood and ecosystem of Beihu Science & Technology Development Zone, a new area in Changchun, into an organic whole. At the same time, the line breaks down the traffic bottlenecks obstructing the cut-through of railways, wetland parks and belt expressways, furnishing the city of Changchun with green passageways for the connection of the city’s new area to its central urban area. Not only does Line 8 provide convenience to the residents of the new area in terms of travel, work, shopping and daily life and thus promotes the economic and social development of the new area, but it also makes it easier for the townspeople of Changchun to go a lot farther to the new area. 

The 12 stops along the line have been each decorated in a different way, on the principle of humanized design, minimalistic style, lucidity and functions first. The stops are all single-deck bridge stations built on the road, with equipment all installed in ground houses to lessen the building volume for the elevated areas and minimize the negative effect on urban landscapes. Decoration of external facades of the whole line has been handled in a unified way, with the combination of steel frames, stone curtain walls and glass curtain walls that presents a sight of simplicity, splendor and transparency and echoes the fastness and efficiency of the rail traffic. Meanwhile, Line 8 is the first of its kind on elevated bridges built with U-beams in freezing northeast China, with the prefabricated U-beams featured by innovative design, low noises, shorter construction period and ensured safe drive and proved applicable to urban rail transit projects calling for higher safety and better landscapes.