地下“大跃进”

Subway Rush

对轨道交通的需求是城市消费升级的一种体现,但它的确又太过烧钱。在压抑了7年之后,各地地铁建设一下子释放出强大的势能。

Forty years ago, when China was celebrating its 20th birthday, Beijing began to operate the country’s fi rst subway line. At that time people took the subway out of curiosity rather than as a normal way to travel. But this year, the central government simultaneously approved 79 planned subway lines in 22 Chinese cities. That means that the country will have 158 subway lines under construction or fi nished by 2015, and the total mileage will be more than 4,189 miles, a little less than the world’s current total mileage. The subway is a symbol and demand of industrialization. In the history of developed countries, track transportation should convey 70% of a city’s traffi c when its population is over ten million. According to a survey sponsored by the former Soviet Union, travel reduces human productivity, which will decline by only 4% if people take subways but by 7% when they take buses. So the subway is a good choice for urban transportation. However, it is expensive to build and operate a subway. In 1995, Tsingtao and Chongqing failed to implement their subway plans for lack of money. So in 2002, the Chinese central government stopped all plans of this kind. But the rising demand for subway lines is stoking today’s subway rush.