At the end of last year, Guangzhou Metro held a ticket price hearing meeting, at which a scheme to charge passengers based on the distance they travel was universally recognized by representatives as the lowest charging level and was therefore adopted. On August 25, with approval from the People's Government of Guangzhou Municipality, the Price Control Administration of Guangzhou Municipality released the new ticket pricing scheme.

The price scheme will work as follows: The price of a ticket for the first 4 kilometers of a journey will be RMB 2.00, after which, from 4 to 12 kilometers, there will be an additional charge of RMB 1.00 for each 4 kilometers traveled; from 12 to 24 kilometers, there will be a charge of RMB 1.00 for each 6 kilometers; and, beyond 24 kilometers, there will be an additional charge of RMB 1.00 for each 8 kilometers traveled.

The first segment of Metro Line 3 and Wang Shengwei Station to Huangge Station of Metro Line 4 are expected to be put into service at the end of this year, starting from when, the ticket price system of Guangzhou Metro will change from station-based charges to distance-based.

There are altogether 465 station regions (travel between one station and the next). According to the head of the Price Control Administration of Guangzhou Municipality, under the new scheme, passengers can expect to pay RMB 2.00 less for a journey in one station region, RMB 1.00 less for journeys in 119 station regions; and there will be no change for journeys in 341 station regions. Only four journeys in station regions will increase by RMB 1.00, however, these 4 station regions will keep the current price unchanged.

It was made clear by the Price Control Administration of Guangzhou Municipality that the Metro Company must send in their ticket price proposal 3 months before putting its lines into service and act on its proposal only after checking and approval by the Price Control Administration.

It is understood that, since the opening of Metro Line 1 in 1999, Guangzhou Metro bas been charging for tickets on station regions bases with RMB 2 for the first station-to-station segment of a journey and an additional RMB 1.00 for each station region.

Editor: Yan