Line 9 is a

rapid transit Rapid transit or mass rapid transit (MRT), also known as heavy rail or metro, is a type of high-capacity public transport generally found in urban areas. A rapid transit system that primarily or traditionally runs below the surface may be c ...

line of the

Tianjin Metro The Tianjin Metro or Tianjin Rail Transit is the rapid transit system in the city of Tianjin, which was the second city in mainland China after Beijing to operate a subway system (the Beijing Subway opened in 1971). Opened in 1984, the syste ...

. It spans 52.8 km with 21 stations, connecting the urban area of

Tianjin Tianjin (; ; Mandarin: ), alternately romanized as Tientsin (), is a municipality and a coastal metropolis in Northern China on the shore of the Bohai Sea. It is one of the nine national central cities in Mainland China, with a total popul ...

with

Binhai New Area Binhai, officially known as Binhai New Area (), is a sub-provincial division, sub-provincial district (China), district and new areas, state-level new area within the jurisdiction of Tianjin Direct-administered municipalities of China, Munici ...

, a new area within the jurisdiction of

Tianjin Municipality Tianjin (; ; Mandarin: ), alternately romanized as Tientsin (), is a municipality and a coastal metropolis in Northern China on the shore of the Bohai Sea. It is one of the nine national central cities in Mainland China, with a total popula ...

. The one-way journey time is approximately one hour. Line 9 is run by Tianjin Binhai Mass Transit Development Co., Ltd, which became a subsidiary of Tianjin Rail Transit Group Corporation in 2017.

Design

Most of the line is elevated that runs parallel to the

Jinbin Expressway The Jinbin Expressway is a direct expressway link from central Tianjin to Tanggu and TEDA. It is 33.54 km in length, 28.54 of which exists as an expressway, and 5 km as a city express road. Route The Jingjintang Expressway runs through ...

(only the westernmost runs in

tunnel A tunnel is an underground passageway, dug through surrounding soil, earth or rock, and enclosed except for the entrance and exit, commonly at each end. A pipeline is not a tunnel, though some recent tunnels have used immersed tube cons ...

s). Hence, it is often wrongly called " light rail", as is commonplace in China with elevated or at-grade metro lines. Trains can reach a speed of up to . Of the 4 bridges along the line, the No. 1 and No. 4 bridges are longer and use

ballastless track A ballastless track or slab track is a type of railway track infrastructure in which the traditional elastic combination of ties/sleepers and ballast is replaced by a rigid construction of concrete or asphalt. Characteristics In ballastless t ...

, while the No. 2 and No. 3 bridges use ballasted track. The No. 1 bridge, from Guanghua Road (between Dongxing Road and Zhongshanmen stations) to Babao, with a total length of , is the longest bridge used in rapid transit systems in China.

History

Line 9 first opened on 28 March 2004. It was extended to on 15 October 2012, connecting with the main metro network by allowing passengers to transfer to Lines 2 and 3. Train service on the whole line was suspended on 13 August 2015 after a series of massive explosions devastated the area. The explosions occurred less than a kilometre from Donghailu station; the roof of the station collapsed, and the control centre nearby was destroyed. It resumed operation on 16 December from

Tianjin Railway Station The Tianjin railway station () is the principal railway station in Tianjin, China. It was established in 1888, rebuilt in 1987-1988, and restructured in 2007-2008. Its Chinese big title was written by Deng Xiaoping in 1988, for celebrating 100 ...

to Tianjin Pipe Corporation Station.

Timeline

* 2001 May 18 - Construction begins * 2003 September 30 - Construction completes * 2004 March 28 - Trial service begins, 6 stations are open to service: Zhongshanmen, Donglikaifaqu, Gangguangongsi, Yanghuoshichang, Dongtinglu, and Donghailu. The price of the tickets are 3 yuan for less than 30 km or 5 yuan for greater than 30 km. The first train departs at 07:00 and the last at 19:00. Hujiayuan is a special station only open to BMT staffs and Huizhanzhongxin station near TEDA football field is only open for football matches and other special events. * 2004 May 25 - Yihaoqiao station opens for service * 2004 September 13 - Extends open time to 06:30 - 19:00 * 2004 October 18 - Shiminguangchang station opens * 2005 March 27 - Huizhanzhongxin station opens on normal days * 2005 April 28 - Erhaoqiao station opens, Yihaoqiao station closes. Automatic ticket selling and checking system begins use. The price of a ticket changes to 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6 yuan, depending on the travel distance. Extends open time to 06:30 - 20:00. * Late 2005 or early 2006 - Yanghuoshichang station changed name to Tanggu; Dongtinglu changed name to TEDA. * 2006 March 1 - Yihaoqiao station reopens; Xinlizhen, Xiaodongzhuang, Junliangcheng, Hujiayuan stations open, so all 14 stations that have been constructed are open. * 2006 March 28 - At 11 a.m., the trains begin automatic train operation; the total travel time from Zhongshanmen to Donghailu decreases from 49 min to 47.5 min. * 2006 May 1 - Extends open time to 06:30 - 21:00. * 2010 May 1 - Shiyijing Road to Zhongshanmen was opened * 2015 August 12 - the

2015 Tianjin explosions On 12 August 2015, a series of explosions at the Port of Tianjin in Tianjin, northern China, killed 173 people, according to official reports, and injured hundreds of others. The explosions occurred at a container storage station in the Binha ...

caused significant damage; all operations are suspended. * 2015 December 16 -

to Tianjin Pipe Corp Station section resumes operation. The operation time is 06:00 - 22:30. * Early 2016 - Tianjin Pipe Corp Station to Citizen Plaza section resumes operation. * 31 December 2016 - Citizen Plaza to Donghai Road section resumes operation.

Chronology of section openings

Stations (west to east)

Service routes: * Tianjin Railway Station - Donghai Road * Tianjin Railway Station - Zhigu - Tanggu through train, runs twice per day, one on the morning and another on the night

Rolling stock

Notes

References

{{Tianjin Metro navbox, line9=yes Tianjin Metro lines Railway lines opened in 2004