Keolis opent eerste tramnetwerk in China

Following thorough preparations and testing, Keolis, through its Chinese jointventure, successfully opened its first section of the Songjiang tram line on 26 December 2018 and welcomed its first passengers. The open section is 13.9 km-long, with 20 stations and connects into Shanghai’s existing metro Line 9.

This important milestone reached by Keolis, reinforces its presence in China and its position as a world leading operator and integrator of shared mobility to better support urban mobility needs in China. Keolis pioneered the first automated metro line in Shanghai and will soon add to this, with the launch of an automated metro service at Shanghai International Airport.

After being awarded a five-year contract to operate and maintain the Songjiang tram network in August 2018, Shanghai Keolis1, the joint-venture between Shanghai Shentong Metro Group and Keolis, undertook the detailed operational preparedness required. This included staff recruitment, formulating rules and regulations, organisational structure, emergency planning, testing of the system and expertise review. All of which led to the
successful opening of a first section of the network on December 26, 2018.

Songjiang is a suburban district of Shanghai which counts 1.8 million residents. The initial section of the tram line is 13.9 km-long and includes 20 stations and covers the area from Canghua Rd station in the west to Zhongchen Rd station in the east which serves residential areas and universities. The tram also connects to Shanghai’s metro line 9, enabling residents in the area to benefit from an integrated shared mobility network which is efficient and environmentally friendly.

The service is being operated with 15 Citadis trams manufactured by Alstom and these will initially run every 10 minutes from 5am to 11pm. The Songjiang tram is the first tram to be operated by Shanghai Keolis in China.

Following the opening of a next section of the network, scheduled in mid-2019, it will then be 31km long and have 46 stations. In addition, there will be an increase to 30 Citadis trams in total, and with this opening of this section the network is expected to then carry about 170,000 passengers per day.

Shanghai Keolis JV was created in June 2014 and counts as of today around 250 employees. The JV operates the first automated metro line of Shanghai and now a section of the Songjiang tram network. In 2019, the group will launch the new rapid transit metro at Shanghai International Airport and will open the second section of the Songjiang tram.