Commuters stream through Shenzhen Bay Checkpoint Station as Metro Line 13 opens Saturday. Photos by Liu Xudong
Commuters line up at Huaqiang South Station on Line 11, waiting for a Metro train.
A boy holds a signboard riding on the first train departing from Shenzhen Bay Checkpoint Station on Line 13.
A Metro staff member assists a senior at Shenzhen Bay Checkpoint Station.
Passengers interact with an MTR mascot at Shenzhen Bay Checkpoint Station.
Long queues were seen as early as 7:30 a.m. on Saturday morning outside the Shenzhen Bay Checkpoint Station to ride the first train on Metro Line 13, which connects the border crossing with the Hi-Tech Industrial Park in Nanshan, further facilitating travel between Shenzhen and Hong Kong.
Apart from a mascot of the MTR, the operator of the line, walking around the starting station, art installations at the seven stations along the newly opened Line 13 also attracted many passengers to take selfies.
Four other sections on the already operating Metro lines 3, 7, 11 and 12 were also inaugurated on Saturday morning, providing a new public transport option for residents in Pingdi, Longgang District, the University Town area in the north of Nanshan, and the Songgang area in western Bao'an. The extension section opening on Metro Line 11, a rapid option to the airport, offers additional choices for travelers with more connections to other lines.
Shenzhen's Metro network, spanning 595.1 kilometers with 417 stations on 18 lines, is now the densest among Chinese cities, boasting 0.3 km of Metro line per square kilometer of land.
The Metro system is anticipated to transport 11 million passengers daily following the introduction of the five new sections.
The city's inaugural Metro line, from Luohu Railway Station to Window of the World, opened Dec. 28, 2004, precisely two decades prior to the most recent addition to the network.