To better serve public transport demand and improve passenger experience, some parts of the Zhujiang New Town Station concourse will be closed for five-months of renovations as of April 10th. Both the layout of the concourse and the way it is lit will be greatly improved, making transfer more convenient with more explicit signage.

A bilingual notice on the renovation is posted at the metro station. (Photo: Guangzhou Metro/Chen Zixin)

During the renovation, there will be a series of partial closures which will begin around Exit C, then follow on to D, B, and A in that order. All exits will remain open during the construction, but please be aware that passenger flow will be somewhat restricted around affected exits.

The construction work will be conducted after normal service hours when possible. All reasonable precautions will be taken to reduce dust, noise and fumes.

As of April 10th, the first closed off area will be near the Exit C, which will temporarily result in a narrower passageway between the exit and concourse proper. The station will increase the number of service staff, guide signs and ticket checking machines to ease passenger flow as much as possible.

The first closed off area will be near the Exit C. (Photo: Guangzhou Metro/Hu Jiajie)

Upgrades urgently needed to handle increasing passenger traffic

Since Line 21 came into full operation last December, there are now 14 lines with a total of 513 kilometers of track running throughout the Guangzhou Metro system.

With the metro network constantly expanding, passenger flow continues to increase accordingly. Lines 3 and 5 have been among the lines with the largest passenger volumes for years, and are infamous with locals and expats alike! Zhujiang New Town Station, the only point of interchange between these two lines, saw an average daily passenger flow of 600,000 in 2019, 300,000 of whom transferred at the station.

A file photo shows passenger flow control at the Zhujiang New Town Station. (Photo: Guangzhou Metro/Li Jianqiang)

The station concourse currently has four separate ticket checking areas, with passengers only able to transfer between Lines 3 and 5 at concourse level by passing through ticket barriers. This has exacerbated congestion in an already busy station and causes confusion with passengers passing through the wrong ticket barriers.

After the renovation is complete, the ticket barriers will form a cross with passengers able to enter through any ticket barrier and access both metro lines. There will also be barrier free transfer between the two lines at concourse level.

Finally the ticket checking area will be expanded by 33% as a further bid to ease passenger flow.

A ticket checking machine is added at the side door. (Photo: Guangzhou Metro/Cao Hui)

Author: Monica Liu

Editor: Simon Haywood