Metro extension will link airports

The eastern extension of Shanghai's Metro Line 2 will connect both the city's airports and link them with downtown areas, according to yesterday's Shanghai Morning Post.

It will take passengers no more than an hour and a half to reach each airport.

The eastern extension will include 11 stations, eight underground and three above ground.

None of the stations will link to other subway lines.

The distance between Haitian Road Station and Yuandong Avenue Station will be 5.8 kilometers, the longest in the city's Metro system.

Traveling between the two stations will take about 10 minutes, according to the newspaper.

"The reason why the two stations are so far apart is that they are in sparsely populated areas," a construction official said.

Zhangjiang Station in Pudong, now on an elevated line, will be rebuilt underground.

"To ease passenger flows during peak hours at the station, another four stations will be built to satisfy office employees working in the high-tech area," the official said.

The final 1.4 kilometers of the extension will be parallel to the Maglev line, the report said.

A construction official told the paper that the 8.58-kilometer western extension on Line 2, running through Minhang District, will include three underground stations.

Construction is expected to finish in 2010, with a trial operation before the Shanghai World Expo.

By the first half of next year, its major structure will be linked to Metro Line 2.

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