Line 1 (Guangzhou Metro)

Line 1 of the Guangzhou Metro runs from Xilang to Guangzhou East Railway Station (18.5 km (11.50 mi)). Apart from Kengkou and Xilang, all stations in Line 1 are underground.^[4] The first section, from Xilang to Huangsha, opened on 28 June 1997, making Guangzhou the fourth city in mainland China to have a metro system. Construction took a total of 66 months. The total investment is 12.2616 billion yuan with an average cost per kilometer of 662.9 million yuan.^[5] The full line started operation on 28 June 1999. Line 1 is coloured yellow.

Line 1
Line 1 train near Kengkou
Overview
Other name(s)	M1 ("十" shape plan name) Zhongshanlu line (中山路线)
Status	Operational
Owner	City of Guangzhou
Locale	Tianhe, Yuexiu, and Liwan districts Guangzhou, Guangdong
Termini	Guangzhou East Railway Station Xilang
Stations	16
Service
Type	Rapid transit
System	Guangzhou Metro
Services	1
Operator(s)	Guangzhou Metro Corporation
Depot(s)	Xilang Depot
Rolling stock	21 cars Siemens Modular Metro-AEG/Adtranz (original order) 48 Bombardier Movia with CRRC Changchun Railway Vehicles[1]
Daily ridership	1.04 million (2017 daily average)[2] 2 million (2015 Peak)[3]
History
Opened	28 June 1997 (27 years ago) (1997-06-28)
Last extension	16 February 1999 (26 years ago) (1999-02-16)
Technical
Line length	18.5 km (11.50 mi)
Number of tracks	Double-track
Character	Underground and At-grade
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Electrification	1,500 V DC (overhead lines)
Signalling	Siemens Trainguard LZB 700 M, FTGS Moving block
Route map Legend  11  Outer Circle  3  to Airport North (Terminal 2) Guangzhou East Railway Station  3   11   18   18  to Huachengjie Guangshen Railway  11  Inner Circle  18  to Wanqingsha Tianhe Sports Center  3  to Tianhe Coach Terminal  13  to Xinsha  APM  to Canton Tower Tiyu Xilu  3  (OSI to  10   13 )  3  to Panyu Square  10  to Xilang  13  to Chaoyang Yangji  5   5  to Jiaokou to Wenchong Dongshankou  6   6  to Xiangxue  12  to Xunfenggang to Higher Education Mega Center South Martyrs' Park  12  Peasant Movement Institute Connection to Line 2 Gongyuanqian  2   2  to Jiahewanggang to Guangzhou South Railway Station Ximenkou  8  to Jiaoxin to Wanshengwei Chen Clan Academy  8  Changshou Lu Huangsha  6   6  to Xunfenggang Pearl River  22  to Airport North (Terminal 2)  11  Inner Circle Outer Circle Fangcun  11   22  Huadiwan Huadi River Kengkou Xilang Depot  Guangfo  to Xincheng Dong to Lijiao Xilang  Guangfo   10   22   10  to Tianhe Coach Terminal  22  to Panyu Square This diagram: view talk edit

Line 1
Simplified Chinese	广州地铁1号线
Traditional Chinese	廣州地鐵1號線
Cantonese Yale	Gwóngjāu Deihtit Yāt Houh Sin
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Guǎngzhōu Dìtiě Yī Hào Xiàn Yue: Cantonese Yale Romanization Gwóngjāu Deihtit Yāt Houh Sin Jyutping gwong2 zau1 dei6 tit3 jat1 hou6 sin3 Canton Romanization guong2 zeo1 déi6 tid3 yed1 hou6 xin3

Line 1 connects the old city on the north bank of the Pearl River and new development areas west of Tianhe District passing through many dense areas and important landmarks in central Guangzhou. At the same time, it also connects the newly built Guangzhou East Railway Station and Fangcun Passenger Station, two major transportation hubs. After the opening of the first section of the Guangfo Metro, it became a key corridor for traffic between the central urban areas of Guangzhou and neighboring Foshan. Therefore, after the opening of the whole line, Line 1 has become an important east–west artery in the urban area of Guangzhou.

Although Line 1 has largely not been expanded since 1999, the passenger flows of Line 1 has been increasing as the Guangzhou Metro network continues to rapidly expand its coverage in and around Guangzhou. At present, the average daily passenger flow has exceeded one million passengers per day, ranking among highest of Guangzhou Metro's lines. Trains are often crowded during the morning and evening peak hours, and the platforms of key transfer stations (Gongyuanqian, Tiyu West Road etc.) are even more crowded. Line 1 remains busy throughout the day leading to it being the subway line with the highest passenger intensity in Mainland China with 55,000 passengers/day/km in 2019.^[6]

Upgrades

In 2004, station ventilation and electrical systems started to be updated and platforms strengthened in preparation for retrofitting of platform screen doors in all stations, one of the first PSD retrofit projects in Mainland China.^[7] By 2009, all stations on Line 1 were retrofitted with PSDs.^[8]

Retrofitting for PSDs on Line 1

Since Line 1 began operation, there have been several incidents of service disruptions due to overhead catenary cable breakages.^[9] During that period, Guangzhou Metro experimented rigid catenary installations between Kengkou and Huadiwan stations.^[10] Rigid catenary was promoted on all newer lines using overhead electric traction such as Line 2. Beginning in 2007, Guangzhou Metro began converting Line 1's overhead into rigid catenary without shutting down regular service. Instead, trains ran at a speed of 30 km/h (19 mph) when passing through the temporary transition sections.^[11][12][13]

In 2011, Line 1 carried out renovation work on the walls of stations along the entire line, removing the original wall tiles and replacing them with gray tiles. Chen Yihua, a middle school student from Guangzhou No. 16 Middle School, attracted media attention by protesting the rationale behind the renovation, arguing that the new uniform tiles destroyed the unique decoration and design features of each Line 1 station. In the end, the project was suspended with only some stations renovated. The rest of the stations remained as is temporarily.^[14][15] In 2017, the platforms of Line 1's Guangzhou East Railway Station began to be renovated, having its wall tiles and false ceiling decorations replaced. However, the replaced tiles and decorations were similar in color to the original. Subsequently, the rest of the underground stations also began to have wall tiles replaced and decorations hung up accordingly, completing the remaining station renovations using designs as close to the original style as possible.

In June 2016, Guangzhou Metro began to study how to extend the service life of A1 trains, which were introduced in 1997.^[16][17] The A1s were the rolling stock used during the opening of Line 1 and are the oldest in the Guangzhou Metro. The first A1 train started the refurbishment process between 2019–2020.^[18] The refurbished trains feature rebuilt interiors, lighting and electrical systems as well as LCD passenger information screens.^[19] The A3 trains were also updated with their dot-matrix route maps replaced by full color LCD passenger information screens.

Retrofitted LCD passenger display on an A3 car.

In order to ensure the continuation of reliable daily operations, there were plans to upgrade the existing aging signaling system of Line 1. According to the tender information, it will be upgraded to a newer version of the Siemens signaling system.^[20] In February 2022, Guangzhou Metro decided to use the holidays in March and April to upgrade the catenary, signaling system and other equipment of Line 1. During the 16-day upgrade and renovation period, the two-way traffic of Line 1 was closed 1.5 hours earlier.^[21]

History

Line 1 drawn to scale.

Segment	Commencement	Length	Station(s)	Name
Xilang — Huangsha	28 June 1997	5.4 km (3.36 mi)	5	(initial section)
Huangsha — Guangzhou East	16 February 1999	13.1 km (8.14 mi)	11	(final section)

Stations

• OSI - Out-of-station interchange (only available for IC cards users)

Station No.		Station name		Connections	Distance km		Location
		English	Chinese
101		Xilang	西塱	Guangfo  GF18  10   22	0.00	0.00	Liwan
102		Kengkou	坑口		1.64	1.64
103		Huadiwan	花地湾		1.03	2.67
104		Fangcun	芳村	11  1120  22	1.35	4.02
105		Huangsha	黄沙	6  607	1.45	5.47
106		Changshou Lu	长寿路		0.77	6.24
107		Chen Clan Academy	陈家祠	8  812	1.16	7.4
108		Ximenkou	西门口		1.01	8.41	Yuexiu
109		Gongyuanqian	公园前	2  213	1.02	9.43
110		Peasant Movement Institute	农讲所		1.17	10.6
111		Martyrs' Park	烈士陵园	12	1.08	11.68
112		Dongshankou	东山口	6  614	1.07	12.75
113		Yangji	杨箕	5  511	1.41	14.16
114		Tiyu Xilu	体育西路	3  311  10  GBRT OSI:  APM  (Tianhenan APM07) OSI:  13  (Huacheng Square North)	1.36	15.52	Tianhe
115		Tianhe Sports Center	体育中心		1.04	16.56
116		Guangzhou East Railway Station	广州东站	3  318  11  1108  18   GS  GGQ	1.96	18.52