Phase I of the Shenzhen Metro will start trials at noon, Tuesday, following an opening ceremony at the Luohu Railway Station, the Shenzhen Metro Corporation announced Thursday.

The only key state project in the city, Shenzhen Metro set several records during construction, said Jian Lian, vice general manager of the metro company.

To secure high-quality construction, all suppliers were chosen from public bidding and the metro equipment met international standards, he said.

About 70 percent of the construction work went to domestic companies or joint ventures with global industrial giants.

The automatic fare control system was developed by a local computer company, which owns the domestic intellectual property rights.

The system is said to be able to reconcile RMB and Hong Kong dollars and identify forged notes.

Trials on Line 4, which passes five stations from Huanggang Checkpoint to the Children's Palace in Futian District, would be conducted simultaneously with Line 1. Trains on Line 4 would depart every 20 minutes, Jian said.

Despite the first train built in Hennigsdorf, Germany, which met international standards, a joint venture between the Canadian firm Bombardier Transportation and China's Changchun Car Co., would supply 22 six-car trains. The total cost of Metro trains would amount to 1.3 billion yuan (US$157 million), Jian said.

"The automatic signaling system, a debut of its kind in China, is another highlight of the Shenzhen Metro," he said. About 55 percent of the equipment came from domestic or joint-venture companies.

Contracted by Siemens, the project has reportedly changed the fate of a little-known Xi'an Chinese joint-venture factory, which is now an R&D center for Siemens, manufacturing equipment for subway signaling systems in the pan-Asia area. The system is designed to have trains depart automatically every three months.

It has vanguard communication technology installed provided by Shenzhen-based ZTE. The reception for mobile phones -- including CDMA and Shihuatong, a wireless local phone -- is assured on trains.

"There's no problem for as many as tens of thousands of passengers talking over their mobiles at the same time," Jian said.

There are 262 elevators designed to stop running if there is no pedestrian traffic saving 20 to 30 percent in electricity costs. It was the first of its kind in a metro system on such a large scale in China, said Jian.

Shenzhen Metro is the second city in China after Guangzhou to install safety doors at stations.
 
(Shenzhen Daily December 24, 2004)