Line 13 of the

Guangzhou Metro The Guangzhou Metro () ( and ) is the rapid transit system of the city of Guangzhou in Guangdong Province of China. It is operated by the state-owned Guangzhou Metro Corporation and was the fourth metro system to be built in mainland China, af ...

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 ...

rail line currently in operation as of 28 December 2017 in

Guangzhou Guangzhou (, ; ; or ; ), also known as Canton () and alternatively romanized as Kwongchow or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of Guangdong province in southern China. Located on the Pearl River about north-northwest of Hong Kon ...

, China. It is envisioned to be the "East West express line" complementing Line 3 which is the "North South express line". The line serves some of the most popular areas in Guangzhou such as Luochongwai Bus Terminal, Zhujiang New Town CBD and Yuancun while passing through some of the densest and most populated areas of Tianhe,

Yuexiu Yuexiu District is one of 11 urban districts of the prefecture-level city of Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong Province, China, located west of the Tianhe District and east of the Liwan District. It is the commercial, political and cultural c ...

, and Liwan Districts. Due to the density of the areas served, demand for this line is expected to be high, with an average mature daily ridership predicted at 1.44 million passengers per day when both phases are complete. Knowing this, engineers designed Line 13 to use 8 car wide body Type A rolling stock, the highest capacity rolling stock in the Guangzhou Metro to date. To fulfill its role as a crosstown express service, the line is designed with a service speed of with a wider stop spacing. The first phase runs from in Huangpu to in

Zengcheng Zengcheng District ( alternately romanized as Tsengshing) is one of 11 urban districts of the prefecture-level city of Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong Province, China. History was established under the Qin following their conquest ...

, opened on 28 December 2017 and is expected to initially serve 220,000 riders per day. Phase 2 of the line, from Yuzhu to Chaoyang, is currently under construction and is scheduled to open in stages from 2023/24.

History

Planning

During initial planning, Line 13 considered the use of 4 car L-type

light metro A medium-capacity system (MCS), also known as light rapid transit or light metro, is a rail transport system with a capacity greater than light rail, but less than typical heavy-rail rapid transit. MCS’s trains are usually 1-4 cars, or 1 lig ...

trains for operation. However, severe congestion issues appeared just after the opening of Line 3, which only uses low capacity 3 car Type B trains and Line 6 which uses even lower capacity 4 car Type L

trains, prompted heavy public criticism. Planners subsequently reevaluated the passenger flow forecasts for the entire line of Line 13, and upgraded the design to directly use the highest capacity 8 car A-type trains. During 2012, it has also considered the split of the second phase of Line 13 between Tianhe Park and Tangxia, so that Line 13 can be operated in segments with two stations as the terminal and transfer station, passengers would transfer between the two lines using a paired

cross-platform interchange A cross-platform interchange is a type of interchange between different lines at a metro (or other railway) station. The term originates with the London Underground; such layouts exist in other networks but are not commonly so named. In the U ...

. At that time the predicted maximum passenger demand section of Line 13 was predicted to reach up to 55,000 pphpd heading eastbound beyond Tianhe Park station in the AM peak period. It was surmised that doubling up the line in that section will allow for additional capacity. However, this plan was ultimately never adopted. In 2017, the second phase of the project (including the first phase of extension) was approved by the

National Development and Reform Commission The National Development and Reform Commission of the People's Republic of China (NDRC), formerly State Planning Commission and State Development Planning Commission, is a macroeconomic management agency under the State Council, which has b ...

. On October 15, the Guangzhou Development and Reform Commission officially approved the feasibility study report of the second phase of Line 13. Initial ridership of Line 13 upon the opening of both phases is expected to reach 1.2 million passengers per day.

History

Planning

Stations

Phase II

References