Nanjing, capital city of east China's Jiangsu province, is to construct the city's second subway line from November 20, Xinhua news agency reported today.

The construction will comprise three phases. The 25.245-kilometer first phase, which is expected to start operation by 2009, will cost 10.5 billion yuan (US$1.3 billion) and have 19 stations, including 16 stations underground, two at ground level and one elevated station.

The line will cross Nanjing City, from east to west, linking the Mochou Lake Park, Zhongshanmen, Xiaolingwei and Nanjing's old city.

The line will intersect with Line 1 at Xinjiekou Station, and will connect other subway lines in the future to form a rail transport net. People in Nanjing will be able to transfer between Line 2 and 5 at Shanghai Road Station, and Daxing Palace Station will be the junction of Lines 2 and 3.

The second phase of Line 2 will extend to Xianlin University City eastward, and the third phase will extend to the Banqiao area in Yuhuatai District, according to Xinhua. After the completion of three phases, the subway line will be 42.845 kilometers long.

The 21.72-kilometer Line 1 began operation on September 3, running through the city from north to south and linking Nanjing Railway Station and Nanjing Olympic Stadium, which was the theme venue of the just completed 10th National Games.

Shanghai has four operational Metro lines, with a total length of about 93.5 kilometers.

(Shanghai Daily November 1, 2005)