Changsha's metro lacks a loop line. Planned Line 8 would ease congestion at WuYi Square, cut transfers, and serve suburbs like Xingsha and Huangpu.
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Over the years, the Changsha subway network ("Changsha Metro") has been expanded and extended for a pretty good coverage reaching most parts of the city. For anyone who remembers life in Changsha before the underground revolution in commuting, this is an exceptionally welcome improvement which has allowed people to enjoy the city more, save a shed-load of money on taxi fares and, of course, eased the dependance on buses and all the traffic ills that come with that mode of transport.
But not only that, metro stations are modern, clean and all have WC facilities. Surely, Changsha's metro system is among the best in China. We even have our own version of the 'Maglev' airport shuttle train.
But anyone who has lived in Changsha for a long time knows that the Changsha subway system gets busy and much of that is because the design of the network simply doesn't meet some sections of the city's travel needs. For instance, check out the planned map below and you'll immediately see the big picture and how we still have some way to go...
The problem | No loop
As in most big cities, a successful metro system needs a circular line as the backbone for wide-berth transit. Cities like Wuhan, Chengdu and Zhengzhou have mature subway circle lines that can link districts from the east to the west, north and south, without entering the city centre to change lines, and thus passengers directly detour and divert, greatly alleviating the pressure in the core area.
A schematic diagram of the route and transfer points for Metro Line 8:
But Changsha, so far, has no real subway loop, and Line 8, which has been on the planning table for years, has been slow to get going.
At present, all subway lines in Changsha are basically "noodle-like radii," and the commuting core of all lines is all clustered around WuYi Square, the old and grand Changsha Railway Station, and Huangxing Square in the commercial heart of the city.
As all locals know full well, WuYi Square during the morning rush hour every day is the scene of a large "fiasco" where three lines occupy seven stations within a pretty downtown geographic area. Line 6 skirts north of WuYi Square while Lines 1 and 2 take the full brunt of passenger loads as people scramble to reach opposite ends of the city.
So, as you can see, the need for a magical Line 8, a circular line, would chop a huge amount of people traffic from needing to fit through the bottle-necks of downtown Changsha.
Serious consideration | Light town, heavy suburbs
One of the most curious points of Changsha's subway planning is that there has long been a lack of subway access reach in dense residential areas.
Changsha has a large number of established areas with occupancy rates of more than ten years and a permanent population of more than 100,000. However, those areas are yet to get the benefits of a gleeming, new metro station. Many people still need to complete their journey by car from station to destination. It goes without saying that a metro system cannot reach every neighbourhood, for sure, and it certainly is already a great system for the people of Changsha, but there are some questions worthy of asking as we look to the future.
The first is the Huangpu district, as a mature, old district of Yuelu District, with a dense community with more than 100,000 permanent residents, there is a great need for daily travel. But for so many years, the subway has eluded this area, and residents completely rely on ground traffic leading to frequent traffic jams. One has only to see the massive area of Xingsha and how travelling north-south necessitates having to effectively travel into Changsha city, change once or even twice, and then hop on a different line to reach a different part of Xingsha.
A central focus | The peripheries are waiting
Changsha's urban network is clear. Two major arteries, Lines 1 and 2, run through the whole city and are constantly saturated with traffic and people.
However, Changsha subway lines are also often crowded and therefore those two east-west, north-south backbone lines need alleviation, plus the two busiest main roads in the city have not yet been fully covered by subways.
Along Jinxing Road in Hexi, a large number of residential, commercial and formal districts are dense, yet residents can only really travel by bus and car, which leads to constant congestion. Large areas of the northeast and western hinterland of the river are extremely inconvenient to travel by underground train.
It is also worth noting that some newly built lines have problems of "duplication of coverage". There are duplicate stations, multiple lines overlapping, and resources are overly concentrated.
A great system, but still in need of a bit more...
Changsha's subway planning in the early years clearly followed the trend of "spreading a big pie" to develop the city, radiating from city centre outwards. That is good. Sure. But, to have a circular line would revolutionise the 'already-good' system into a 'fantastic system' that gets the whole city moving, rapidly and conveniently. And that's even before we get talking about the Ningxiang extension lines.
Yes, we are happy and amazed at the rate of progress Changsha has experienced. The local leaders have invested in people. Most world cities of Changsha's size and tier have no metro systems at all. Yet, we do. Now, if only it might be possible to add one more line, L8, that would add the magical sparkle to every citizen's life in beautiful Changsha!
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