SHENZHEN’S planning and land resources commission is planning an additional four Metro lines, with a total length of 140 kilometers, in its latest long-term rail transport plan.

The new lines would boost Shenzhen’s rail network to 20 lines with a total length of 720 kilometers, equivalent to the distance between Shenzhen and the Hunan Province capital of Changsha.

The commission included 16 lines with a total length of 585 kilometers and 357 stations in its 2007 plan. Those lines included four express lines, six trunk lines and six regional lines. The latest plan adds four lines in developing parts of the city.

The draft plan includes a circular line, Line 17 and temporarily named the Qiannan Line, around the Qianhai development area. The line would stretch for 34.4 kilometers around the Qianhai, Xixiang and Shenzhen Bay areas.

Line 18, or the Pinghu Line, would run 24.7 kilometers from Shenzhen Stadium to Pinghu.

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Line 19, the Pingshan Line, would run 23.9 kilometers from Biling to Kengzi. Line 20, the Fuyong Line, would run 14 kilometers from Shenzhen International Airport to west of Fuyong.

“The plan considers Qianhai, another center of future development in Shenzhen, and crowded areas that currently aren’t covered by the Metro system, such as Pingshan and and Pinghu,” Fan Xintai, the commission’s deputy department chief, said this week, according to the Southern Metropolis Daily.

The draft plan is on display at the commission’s office and at sub-bureaus in each district until Dec. 18. It also can be found online at: www.szpl.gov.cn.

Shenzhen transport officials also are planning five intercity rail lines, linking with Guangzhou, Dongguan, Huizhou, Zhuhai and Hong Kong, with a total length of 146.2 kilometers. Four of those five lines would go through the Qianhai area.

(Han Ximin)