Shanghai opens two new lines on longest metro in world

One of the new tracks will serve as the first automated metro line in the city

Passengers enter a metro station in Shanghai (AFP/Getty Images)

China's Shanghai maintained its position as having the longest metronetwork in the world by adding two new lines that went into operation on Thursday.

The two new lines took the total length of the city's metro network to 831km (516 miles). The new lines bring the total number of fully automatic driverless metro lines in the city to five, which will operate on the length of 167 km (103 miles), the Shanghai Metro said.

Line 14 with an operating length of 38 km is the first fully completely automatic metro line for eight-car trains. It is expected to serve as a horizontal artery in the city through Fengbang in Jiading district in the west to Guiqiao Road in the Pudong New Area in the east.

The metropolis now has 20 metro lines with 508 stations operating within the city.

"I've been looking forward to metro Line 14 for a long time," a city resident surnamed Qi told Global Times. The new line will reduce Qi’s travel time from nearly one hour to some 20 minutes, Qi said, adding “that will be quite convenient to me”.

The other new track, Line 18 phase 1, runs through the city’s northern Pudong New Area and northeastern Yangpu district. The line’s south section became operational in December 2020.

Beijing holds the title of second-largest subway network with a track length extending up to 780km (485 miles).