Shenzhen Metro


The Shenzhen Metro is the rapid transit system of the city of Shenzhen in Guangdong Province, China. The newest lines and extensions which opened on December 27, 2024 put the network at of trackage. It currently operates on 17 lines with 421 stations. Despite having only opened on December 28, 2004, the Shenzhen Metro is the 5th longest metro system in the world. By 2035, the network is planned to comprise 8 express and 24 non-express lines totaling of trackage.

Current system

Currently the network has of route, operating on 17 lines with 421 stations. Line 1, Line 4 and Line 10 run to the border crossings between the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region at Luohu/Lo Wu and Futian Checkpoint/Lok Ma Chau, where riders can transfer to Hong Kong's MTR East Rail line for travel onwards to Hong Kong.

Line 1

Line 1, formerly known as Luobao line, runs westward from Luohu to Airport East. Trains operate every 2 minutes during peak hours and every 4 minutes at other times.
Line 2, formerly known as Shekou line, runs from Chiwan to Liantang. Line 2 is connected with Line 8 at Liantang station.
  • December 28, 2010: Chiwan – Window of the World
  • June 28, 2011: Window of the World – Xinxiu
  • October 28, 2020: Xinxiu – Liantang

    Line 3

Line 3, formerly known as Longgang line, runs from Futian Bonded Area to Pingdi Liulian in Longgang, in the north-east part of the city. Construction began on December 26, 2005. The line is operated by Shenzhen Metro Line 3 Operations, which has been a subsidiary of SZMC since April 11, 2011, when an 80% stake was transferred to SZMC.
  • December 28, 2010: Caopu – Shuanglong
  • June 28, 2011: Yitian – Caopu
  • October 28, 2020: Futian Bonded Area – Yitian
  • December 28, 2024: –

    Line 4

Line 4, formerly known as Longhua line, runs northward from Futian Checkpoint to Niuhu. Trains operate every 2.5 minutes at peak hours and every 6 minutes during off-peak hours. Stations from Futian Checkpoint to Shangmeilin Station are underground. The line has been operated by MTR Corporation, a subsidiary of MTR Corporation, since July 1, 2010.
  • December 28, 2004: Fumin – Children's Palace
  • June 28, 2007: Futian Checkpoint – Fumin
  • June 16, 2011: Children's Palace – Qinghu
  • October 28, 2020: Qinghu – Niuhu

    Line 5

Line 5, formerly known as Huanzhong line, runs from Chiwan in the west to in the east via an arch-like shape. Construction began in May 2009 and the line opened on June 22, 2011. Line 5 required a total investment of 20.6 billion RMB. The line is operated by SZMC.
Line 6, formerly known as Guangming line, runs from Songgang in the north to Science Museum in the south, with a length of and a total of 27 stations. Construction began in August 2015 and the line opened on August 18, 2020.
  • August 18, 2020: Science Museum – Songgang

    Line 6 Branch

Line 6 Branch, also known as Branch Line 6, runs from Guangmingcheng to SUAT in the north. The line opened on November 28, 2022.
  • November 28, 2022: Guangming – SUAT
  • September 28, 2025: Guangmingcheng – Guangming

    Line 7

Line 7, formerly known as Xili line of the Shenzhen Metro, opened on October 28, 2016, with a length of and a total of 29 stations. It connects SZU Lihu Campus at Shenzhen University to Tai'an. The line travels East–West across Shenzhen in a "V" shape.
  • October 28, 2016: Xili Lake – Tai'an
  • December 28, 2024: –

    Line 8

Line 8, formerly known as Yantian line of the Shenzhen Metro, opened on October 28, 2020, with a length of and a total of 11 stations. It connects the eastern suburbs of Liantang to Yantian Road, then towards the beach resorts at Dameisha, Xiaomeisha before entering Dapeng at the beach resort at. However, this line serves as the extension of Line 2 in actual operation.
  • October 28, 2020: Liantang – Yantian Road
  • December 27, 2023: Yantian Road – Xiaomeisha
  • December 28, 2025: Xiaomeisha – Xichong

    Line 9

Line 9, formerly known as Meilin line or Neihuan line of the Shenzhen Metro, opened on October 28, 2016. The line runs eastward from to. It has 10 transfer stations. The line is long, running through the districts of Nanshan, Futian and Luohu.
  • October 28, 2016: –
  • December 8, 2019: –

    Line 10

Line 10 formerly known as Bantian line, runs from Futian Checkpoint in the south to Shuangyong Street in the north, with a length of and a total of 24 stations. Construction began in September 2015 and the line opened on August 18, 2020.
  • August 18, 2020: Futian Checkpoint – Shuangyong Street

    Line 11

Line 11, also known as the Airport Express, runs from Bitou in the northwest to in the city centre via Shenzhen Bao'an International Airport. Construction began in April 2012 and the line opened on June 28, 2016. Line 11 runs at a higher speed of.
Line 12, also known as Nanbao Line, runs from in the southwest to in the northwest. Construction began in 2018 and the line opened on November 28, 2022.
Line 13, also known as Shiyan Line, runs from Shenzhen Bay Checkpoint at the Shenzhen Bay Port in Nanshan to Shangwu in northeast Bao'an. Construction began in 2018 and the first phase of the line between Shenzhen Bay Checkpoint and Hi-Tech Central opened on December 28, 2024.
  • December 28, 2024: –
  • December 28, 2025: –

    Line 14

Line 14, also known as the Eastern Express, runs from Gangxia North in the city centre to Shatian in the northeast. Construction began in 2018 and the line opened on October 28, 2022.
  • October 28, 2022: Gangxia North – Shatian

    Line 16

Line 16, also known as Longping Line, runs from Yuanshan Xikeng in the south of Longgang to Tianxin in the northeast. Construction began in 2018 and the line opened on December 28, 2022.
  • December 28, 2022: Universiade – Tianxin
  • September 28, 2025: Yuanshan Xikeng – Universiade

    Line 20

Line 20, formerly known as Fuyong line, runs from Airport North in the north-west to Convention & Exhibition City near Shenzhen World. Construction began in September 2016 and the line opened on December 28, 2021. Line 20 runs at the same top speed as line 11, at.
  • December 28, 2021: Airport North – Convention & Exhibition City

    History

Early planning

In late 1983, Party Secretary of Shenzhen Mayor Liang Xiang led a team to Singapore to study its mass transit system. Upon returning it was decided that on each side of Shennan Avenue should be protected as a green belt, and to set aside a wide median reserved for a light rail or light metro line. In 1984, the "Shenzhen Special Economic Zone Master Plan " pointed out that, with the growing population and traffic in Shenzhen, a light metro system would not have sufficient capacity to meet future demand. Instead the report proposed a heavy rail subway line to be built along Shennan Avenue. The project was finally approved by the Central Planning Department in 1992.
In August 1992, during and re-feasibility and rail network planning, The Shenzhen Municipal Government decided to move from building a light metro line to a heavy rail subway line. The rapid growth of Shenzhen City made a lower capacity light metro line impractical. In 1994, Shenzhen organized the preparation of the "Shenzhen urban rail network master plan" to be incorporated into the "Shenzhen City Master Plan ". The city's vision for an urban rail network would consists of nine lines. Of the nine transit lines, three of them would be commuter rail lines upgraded from existing national mainline railways. The total length of the proposed network would be about. The three upgraded commuter rail lines would overlap the Guangzhou–Shenzhen railway, Pinghu–Nanshan railway and Pingyan railway. This plan established the basic framework for the Shenzhen Metro network.

Construction suspended and restarted

In December 1995, the State Council issued the "moratorium on approval of urban rapid transit projects" to suspend approval of rail transit projects in all Chinese cities except Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou. The Shenzhen Metro project was postponed. In 1996, prior to the handover of Hong Kong, authorities attempted to restart construction by renaming the project "The Luohu, Huanggang / Lok Ma Chau border crossing passenger rail connection project", stressing that the project is designed to meet the potential growing demand for cross-border passenger traffic after the handover.
In 1997, Shenzhen reapplied its Subway plans to the State Planning Commission, and received approval in May 1998. The project was renamed the "Shenzhen Metro first phase". In July 1998, SZMC. was formally established. By April 1999, the subway project feasibility study report has been approved by the state.

Phase I (1998–2004)

Construction of the first sections of Line 1 and Line 4 began in 1999. The grand opening of the Shenzhen Metro system occurred at 5:00 pm on Tuesday, December 28, 2004. This made Shenzhen the seventh city in mainland China to have a subway after Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Dalian and Wuhan.
Initially the trains operated at 15-minute frequencies and consisted of Line 1 services between Luohu and Shijie Zhi Chuang and the Line 4 services between Fumin and Shaonian Gong. Initially the English names of the stations were rendered in Hanyu Pinyin, but some of the names were changed to English translation with American spelling like the rest of mainland China, despite being close to the Hong Kong, which uses British spelling and ongoing political tensions with the US, in mid-2011.
The Futian Checkpoint station opened on June 28, 2007, using the name Huanggang.