THE 35.3km first phase of Wuhan Metro’s automated Line 12 in central China opened on May 1, extending the city’s metro network to 553km in length with 335 stations on 13 lines. The southern section of what will be an orbital line around the city has 23 stations and runs from Moshuihu Gongyuan in Hanyang district in the west to Gangdu Huayuan in Qingshan in the northeast.
The line runs via Wuchang railway station in the southern part of the city and also serves the districts of Qiaokou, Jianghan, Jiang'an, Hongshan and Wuchang. Five stations provide interchange with other metro lines.
Operation at up to 80km/h is fully autonomous at Grade of Automation 4 (GoA4), using 43 six-car trains built by CRRC Changchun in Wuhan. The fleet is maintained at a depot at Danshuichi and trains are stabled at Fuxingcun and Banqiao. A further 36 trains are due to be delivered for the full opening of the line, bringing the total fleet to 79.
Construction of Phase 1 of Line 12 began in December 2017 and testing started in January. Opening of Phase 2, the 24.6km northern section of the line, is scheduled for October, and will complete the 59.9 km orbital Line 12 with the addition of 14 stations.
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