Blueprint to bring Shanghai's New Cities closer

Credit: Ti Gong

Construction of 17 key traffic infrastructure projects around the city kicked off on Monday to boost connections of the five New Cities.

In the future, people from the new cities of Jiading, Qingpu, Songjiang, Fengxian and Nanhui can travel to key towns in neighboring areas within 30 minutes, to the city center and cities neighboring Shanghai within 45 minutes, and to international traffic hubs within 60 minutes.

Construction has started on the Jiading-Minhang urban rail line and its Shenkun Road parking ground and the Hongqiao traffic junction, the west extensions of Metro Line 2, 13 and 17, the second phase of Metro Line 18, and the update of the signal system of Metro Line 3 and 4.

The Jia-Min line will extend 44 kilometers from the Chengbei Road Station in Jiading District to the Yindu Road Station in Minhang District and provide a fast link for residents of the two districts to the Hongqiao transportation hub.

The extensions of Metro Line 2 and 13 to the west will improve the connection of the Hongqiao business hub to the city center and Pudong, while the extension of Line 17 to Xicen is expected to boost the construction of the town as a new innovation center of the city.

The new projects also include the port-land-railway transportation system for Yangshan Port and eight streets in the five new cities.

Officials said the transportation authorities on both city and district levels will continue to accelerate the construction of 44 other projects, with 56 projects in initial stages of planning.