Inner Mongolia’s first subway line opens

HOHHOT – North China’s Inner Mongolia autonomous region opened its first-ever subway line in Hohhot, its capital city, on Sunday.

The 21.72-km-long metro line of 20 stations offer service to the four urban districts of Hohhot with a maximum capacity of 2,062 passengers and a top speed of 80 km per hour.

The new metro line will greatly relieve the pressure on public transportation in the city, said Liu Zhanying, chairman of Hohhot Urban Rail Transit Co., Ltd.

The city, with a population of over 3 million residents, is among the top ten Chinese cities with the worst traffic flows, according to a report issued by AutoNavi Software Co., Ltd. and the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in early 2019.

China has more than 30 cities with operational metro systems, and that figure is projected to reach 50 by 2020 as more cities complete their urban rail projects.