Metro operators began testing communication facilities at the Chenxiang Highway Station on Metro Line 11 in Jiading on July 5.

The new station is the first in China being built on an existing Metro line without interrupting traffic.

All the equipment is in place, including ticket machines, safety checks, service center, elevators, lifts and ATMs. During the testing period, drills are held to ensure passenger safety.

The construction of the station, the 39th on the line, has be underway for three years.

“The time to put the station into use will be determined after the drills. The passenger flow will be around 24,000 according to our estimate,” Qin Kangqian, project manager of the station, said.

A public transport hub is under construction beside the station.

There were plans for a large amusement park in the area but were dropped. However, large-scale real estate development meant the station is still in need.

Metro Line 14, another line connecting Jiading with the Pudong New Area, is due to start operation by the end of 2021.

From west to east, there will be six stations in Jiading — Fengbang, Jinyuanwu Road, Lintao Road, Jiayi Road, Cao’an Highway and Zhenxin Community.

The Jiading-Minhang Metro Line will run at speeds up to 160 kilometers per hour, cutting the commute time from Taicang, in neighbouring Jiangsu Province, to downtown Shanghai within an hour.

The line is 41.6 kilometers long with 15 stations.Passengers will be able to transfer to the express airport line at Hongqiao International Airport.

The line will also connect with the Shanghai-Changzhou, Shanghai-Nantong and Shanghai-Hangzhou rail networks.

It will be the major commuting route between the north and south of the city and also ease pressure on the Hongqiao public transport hub.

Meanwhile, a train that can reach 600 kilometers per hour successfully conducted a test run on a maglev line at Tongji University’s Jiading campus last month.

Maglev line

The development of a 600kph high-speed maglev transport system is a key project in China’s “Advanced Rail Transit” program initiated by the Ministry of Science and Technology. The project was launched in 2016.

The project team, with CRRC Qingdao Sifang Co Ltd responsible for the technical part, comprised experts from over 30 enterprises, universities and research institutes.

The team has broken through the core technologies of the high-speed maglev series during the past four years and enabled a test operation on track after ground debugging and static tests.

“During the multi-condition test, the vehicle showed stable suspension guidance and a sound operation state. All key technical indicators met design requirements and expectations,” said Ding Sansan, head of R&D team and deputy chief engineer at CRRC Qingdao Sifang.

The trial run saw improvements from static to dynamic operation, obtained a large number of key data and preliminarily verified the key performance of the high-speed maglev system and core components, which provides important technical support for the development and optimization of follow-up high-speed maglev project test vehicles.

A prototype system is expected to roll off the production line by the end of this year.

The 600kph train can fill the gap between the current high-speed rail and aviation services and help establish a more efficient transport network.