Holding a Seminar on High-quality Development and Standard System Construction of Urban Rail Transit

On March 7, a seminar on high-quality development and standard system construction of urban rail transit, which was guided by the China Association of Metros, organized by its Design Consulting Committee and co-organized by UCD, was convened in Beijing, with more than 50 attendees, including relevant leaders and experts from organizations such as the Research Institute of Standards and Norms Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, the Municipal Transportation Division of the Urban Construction Department of the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, the China Academy of Transportation Sciences, CIECC and China Academy of Urban Planning and Design, as well as corresponding leaders and experts from metro operators in Beijing, Shenzhen, Hong Kong, Xi'an, Nanjing, Xiamen, Zhengzhou, Suzhou, Dongguan and other cities.

Attendees also included Ding Shukui and Zhong Jianhua (vice chairmen of the China Association of Metros), Xia Xiujiang (director of the Design Consulting Committee of the China Association of Metros), Huang Jianwei (deputy secretary-general of the Design Consulting Committee), Ren Jian (director of the Standard Department of the China Association of Metros), Wang Jianzhi (deputy director of the Standard Department of the China Association of Metros), Yu Songwei (deputy director and secretary-general of the Design Consulting Committee of the China Association of Metros) and Wang Chen (deputy secretary-general of the Design Consulting Committee of the China Association of Metros).

On behalf of the sponsor, Xia Xiujiang, director of the Design Consulting Committee of the China Association of Metros, Secretary of the Party Committee and General Manager of UCD, addressed a speech. He pointed out that the current urban rail transit has entered the stage of inventory optimization. In the growth process, issues unsuitable for the requirements of high-quality and sustainable development call for attention and solutions at the industry level. He wished participants of this seminar would learn from the innovative experience of Shenzhen, Hong Kong and other cities in rail transit engineering construction and technical standard systems, discuss how to build a standard system that meets the requirements of high-quality development, and jointly promote the innovation and improvement of the urban rail design standard system by offering new ideas and directions.

Yu Deyong, deputy general manager of Shenzhen Metro Group Co., Ltd., delivered a report themed on "Exploration and Practice of Shenzhen Metro’s High-Quality Sustainable Development", depicting the overall remarkable results achieved by Shenzhen Metro Phase V aided by technical management and standard system innovation. Ruan Wenzhong, chief design manager of MTR Corporation (Shenzhen) Limited, delivered a keynote report on "Design Management and Technical Standard System for Hong Kong MTR New Lines" to share MTR's international standard system and advanced experience in design management. Xu Chengyong, chief planner of UCD, addressed a report themed on "Measures for High-Quality Development of Urban Rail Transit and Construction of the Design Standard System". He proposed that enhanced efforts shall be made for the design standard system construction in accordance with the times and local conditions, urban rail enterprises shall be supported to reduce costs and increase efficiency, and the sector shall be assisted in marching toward the phase of high-quality development.

Zhong Jianhua, vice chairman of the China Association of Metros, chaired the seminar. Based on the results of urban rail development, operational effects and adaptability of current standards in various places, as well as the goal positioning, ideas and countermeasures for high-quality development in the sector, experts attending the meeting made deep exchanges on guiding the preparation of enterprise standards in various places necessary for the new phase of construction, instructing the coordination and compliance of enterprise standards with existing national standard specifications, and embodying the differentiation of urban design standards with different population and network sizes, and leading the innovation of operation and management models by leveraging the design standard system.

Ding Shukui, vice chairman of the China Association of Metros, pointed out in his summary statement that China’s urban rail transit systems have made remarkable progress in development and established a more comprehensive standard system where national standards, industry standards, local standards, group standards, and enterprise standards effectively played their respective roles, escorting the growth of the industry. Currently, the industry has grown into a new stage while facing higher development requirements. In this case, there is absolutely a need for the standard system to innovate. In the course of formulating and revising standards at all levels, their positioning and roles shall be made clear to avoid duplication and overlapping. Through the construction of a design standard system, Shenzhen Metro Phase V has established a series of enterprise standard systems based on the current national standards and specifications, and guided the line design of Shenzhen Metro Phase V through quantitative indicator control, achieving good application results, which is worth mutual learning and promotion. In the following stage, the China Association of Metros will support the Design Consulting Committee to actively conduct the declaration compilation of the "Design Guidelines for High-Quality Development of Urban Rail Transit", providing a basis for the compilation of standards for local operators and enterprises, thus working together to assist urban rail transit moving towards high-quality sustainable development.

UCD undertook the high-quality development design consultation project of Shenzhen Metro Phase V in 2023, and jointly compiled and completed the "Design Guidelines for High-Quality Development of Shenzhen Metro Phase V" (hereinafter referred to as the "Design Guidelines") with Shenzhen Metro Group Co., Ltd. It is the first directive standard released in China for the high-quality development of urban rail transit, which has filled the gaps in the industry. The Design Guidelines summarizes the development history, challenges and opportunities faced by China’s urban rail transit, investigates the practices of metro operators across the country in pursuing high-quality development, and puts forward guiding principles and rules to highlight the high-quality development goals of Shenzhen Metro Phase V, and instructs the high-quality development-oriented survey and design tasks of Shenzhen Metro Phase V. The Design Guidelines covers all disciplines in multiple dimensions, with scientific and reasonable working ideas and guidelines. After implementation, Shenzhen Metro Phase V’s construction cost has been greatly reduced, bringing good economic and social benefits.