The first subway in Nanjing, capital of east China's Jiangsu Province, has aroused much attention from citizens with thousands of them left disappointed after 500 tickets for the first try-out ride were snapped up.

"I am sure the subway will greatly ease traffic jams in the urban districts,'' said a middle-aged man surnamed Wang, who considered himself lucky to be taking part in the "500 Citizens Try the Subway" activity last week.

In the more than 20-minute trip on the underground train, he was glad to find there were many bus stops near the subway stations making it convenient to travel around the city.

Also, eight other bus stops will be relocated so they are within 100 or 150 meters of the subway stations, according to local media.

Fang Zhe, from the information office of the city government, said various parts of the subway will be connected to various transport hubs such as Nanjing Railway Station.

"Since the rapid development and expansion of Nanjing, the city's traffic has become more and more congested. The subway will provide timely help for citizens,'' Fang said.

He said the local government and the subway company jointly organized the activity.

Although only 500 free tickets were available, thousands of citizens queued up for hours for a chance to try it out.

"The train was so beautiful, so comfortable and so stable,'' said Sun Zongmin, a 50-year-old citizen who rode the subway. Sun was paralyzed in the leg six years ago after an accident at work. He called a radio station to say he wanted to travel on the new subway, and a kind citizen gave him her ticket.

Zhang Xiaoqi, an official with the Nanjing Subway Construction Headquarters, said the new line was called the No 1 Subway Line. Official construction began in December 2000.

A sightseeing line will open in May, and the first journeys for residents could begin in September.

The line will be about 22 kilometers long, with 11 underground stations and five stations above the ground.

Each train can carry about 1,886 passengers.

The subway has cost 392 million yuan (US$47 million) per kilometer.

Almost 80 percent of the construction work used Chinese technology.

(China Daily March 21, 2005)