No new Metro lines will open this year but Metro services will be upgraded and extensive construction work will continue, a senior Metro official said yesterday.

"We will improve our Metro services and shorten Metro intervals this year," Ying Minghong, president of Shanghai Shentong Metro Group told Shanghai Daily during the plenary session of the Shanghai People's Congress.

He said more than five Metro lines and over 100 Metro stations are being constructed this year.

Three new Metro lines 7, 10 and 11 will be opened before 2010, giving the city's Metro system 11 lines covering 400 kilometers.

Ying said his group, which funds and manages the Metro system, is well aware of overcrowding on the Metro.

He said his group will import more trains this year to meet the demands of the increasing number of passengers, particularly those living in Pudong.

By the year's end, at least eight new trains will be added to the Metro Line 4, the city's only ring line, so that the average interval between trains will be just five minutes. At present its longest interval is more than 13 minutes.

Since the contracts to import extra trains are still being drawn up, the number of new trains to be added this year is still not known, Ying said.

More automatic ticket vending machines will be used in the future and passengers will find it easier to buy tickets.

The number of manned ticket booths will be cut but Metro staff will be around to help those who need it.

The city's Metro system jumped to a length of 234 kilometers last year with three new lines put into use but they have not relieved overcrowding.

During morning rush hour, some passengers, particularly on Metro Line 6 in Pudong, have to wait for up to three trains to be able to travel.

(Shanghai Daily January 29, 2008)