Shanghai is expected to come up with 20 new technologies for subway construction and operation in the next five years.

According to the municipal government's 11th five-year plan, the city will have built a metro network as long as 400 kilometres by 2010, in time for the World Expo.

At present, the city has five operating subways with a total length of 123 kilometres. The expansion will give Shanghai the third biggest metro network in the world. It will probably handle 5.8 million passengers a day in 2010.

The technologies will be researched and developed by local universities, design institutions, manufacturers and construction companies.

Ying Minghong, deputy director of the Commanding Headquarters of Shanghai Metro Construction, said the campaign "scientific creations in metro transportation" will get the city to a key national position in most areas concerning metro technology, and to an international level in some fields.

In a conference with the same theme held yesterday, he said there are plans to develop automatically-operating metro trains and low-speed maglev technology.

He also said they would research energy-saving and environmental-protective material and technology applicable to metro construction, tunnelling techniques and an automatic monitoring system .

"The monitoring facility will keep scanning the condition of metro tunnels underground. For example, it will detect whether a pipeline is leaking or broken. Whenever it discovers a problem, it will immediately tell technical staff who can carry out repairs," said Bi Xiangli, vice-CEO of Shanghai Shentong Rail Transit Research & Consultancy Co, Ltd.

He said an important task on the 20-technology list is to develop metro trains where the Chinese own the intellectual property rights. Nearly all such trains operating in the city were purchased from abroad and China is still far from mastering the key technologies needed to manufacture them, he said.

"We also plan to introduce the 3G system into the city's entire metro network when it is in shape in 2010. Passengers will then be able to enjoy wireless services to access the Internet at subway stations," he said.

Bi also revealed that such services would first be offered on the No 10 Metro Line, on which automatic trains will operate without any drivers.

(China Daily October 12, 2006)