On April 23rd, Hangzhou Metro Line 16, connecting Hangzhou downtown with Lin’an District, entered into revenue service smoothly. This very fast metro line of Hangzhou area relies on Thales SEC Transport (TST) signalling system technologies for maximum safety and efficiency, ensuring everyday pleasant and reliable journeys for local passengers.
Hangzhou Metro Line 16 sets off eastward from Jiuzhou Street Station at Lin’an District to Lvting Road Station at Yuhang District, covering a total operational rail length of 35.12 km and crossing through twelve stations (eight underground and four elevated). With a speed of up to 120 km/h and a single end-to-end journey lasting just 38 minutes, it is currently the fastest metro line in Hangzhou, offering an alternative to the one-hour traffic zone from Hangzhou downtown to Lin’an District.
As an important metro transit in the Hangzhou metropolitan area, the Line 16 links the district with central Hangzhou, thereby facilitating Lin’an’s sustainable growth through integration into Hangzhou metropolis and the Yangtze River Delta, but also boosts regional transportation within the metropolitan area. This metro line consolidates Hangzhou’s position as a central city in the southern part of Yangtze River Delta and speeds up the regional extension of Zhejiang province.
As the signalling system supplier for Hangzhou Metro Line 16, TST integrated the metro line’s characteristics and customer requirements into the development of new functions based on SelTracTM CBTC, including ATS (Automatic Train Supervision) triple redundancy, ATP (Automatic Train Protection) for engineering vehicles, and switch protection in IATP (Intermittent Automatic Train Protection) mode. TST also optimized the functions of train hold, route trigger timing and route release delay, with the client fully recognizing the metro’s excellent system performance.
“An efficient metro is essential for the commercial success and growth of any great city. Thales is proud to bring a proven expertise and decades of transit infrastructure experience to Hangzhou Line 16 that will contribute to the transportation foundation for Hangzhou’s growth and evolution.” Jérôme Bendell, Vice President of Thales North Asia and CEO of Thales in China said, “China is accelerating the construction of new infrastructure. Thales is committed to supporting Chinese cities in their future goals for smart mobility and urban transportation.”
China is the world’s biggest growing urban rail markets, as well as one of the fastest, with 8,500 km of new lines planned in 40 cities. Benefiting from 30 years of experience in rail signalling systems, coupled with a strong understanding of operational requirements in the Chinese market, Thales has provided advanced CBTC (Communication-Based Train Control) signalling systems for 35 lines in 14 major Chinese cities through its JV TST, with a total length of 1,356km.
