Mengzi, Yunnan Province, has begun operation of its 13km Line 1 Phase 1 light rail line, which runs north-south between Northern station, via the city centre, to the passenger bus terminal. Services will operate from between 07.15 and 21.45 at a frequency of 118 per day.
Line 1 is the first of four light rail lines planned for the city, which will have a total length of 62.3km, with an estimated total cost of Yuan 6.6bn ($US 9.72bn). In addition, Line 1 Phase 2 will extend the line a further 5km with nine additional stations planned.
The line was constructed through a private-public partnership (PPP) between Yunnan Construction Engineering Group (YCEG) and the Honghe Prefectural government, and will be operated by YCEG under a 30 year contract.
The Mengzi light rail line project was launched following a ground-breaking ceremony in August 2015, with an original opening date planned for 2017. However, the project was later delayed due to a lack of funding.
The line will be operated by a fleet of 34 low-floor LRVs supplied by CRRC, which are equipped with supercapacitors to enable operation using partial electrification, with most electrification located at stations.
Hohhot Metro Line 2
Hohhot, Inner Mongolia, opened the first phase of its new metro Line 2 on the same day, following an inauguration at Xinhua Square station, where the line interchanges with the existing Line 1.
The new line is 27km long and runs north-south from Tali East Road to Aershan Road, with 24 stations. Together with Line 1, the city’s metro network now offers two lines operating on east-west and north-south axes.
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