Tianjin Metro Station

China is a country with billions of people, in such a gigantic country, moving people around rapidly is not an easy job.

As a Chinese grown up in a big city in China, I experience the madness of the traffic everyday. Not just the lack of infrastructure, but the people’s mentality, the only way to describe the traffic scene is ‘No rules apply’.

The government installed more traffic police stations, but the way people behave is not changing that much. So the government started to think alternative solutions. Rapid Transit System has to be made available in many big cities to tackle the worsening traffic and pollution.

Tianjin Metro

Tianjin, as the third largest city in China, started the rapid transit construction almost 40 years ago. Construction started on July 4, 1970, the first phase 3.6 km and 4 stations had been completed in February 1976. After the expansion, by December 28, 1984, the total length was 7.4 km, 8 stations.

However the metro service was suspended on October 9, 2001 in order to modernize the line. Tianjin Metro Line 1 (Liuyuan-Shuanglin) is 26.188 km long. It reopened on June 12, 2006.

The long term plan of the metro system includes 8 metro lines and one light rail line (line 9). Lines 1, 2 and 3 are designated as the backbone of the rapid transit system.

Not many folks get used to the Metro, most working class people still prefer riding the bike or to take a bus, because the cost is cheaper. Upper class are fascinated by the American culture and want to own private car. Most people who choose to take the train are middle class.

If the fare can’t drop, the Metro system may have to take years to be profitable. But nevertheless, this is a good start to pave the way for the future.