An increasing number of people have grown interested in how much it will cost to use the metro system as the day draws near for the Shenzhen Metro to start operating.

Metro guide booklets issued Sunday help answer these questions. According to the booklet, four kinds of fares will be used on the metro system. They include a single (one-way) ticket, prepaid ticket, a discount ticket (with up to 50 percent off) for students and free tickets for the elderly, disabled servicemen and policemen.

The initial fare is set at two yuan (US$0.24) for the first three stations. Passengers have to pay an extra one yuan for each of the three additional sections - each section has four stations. The journey from Luohu to Window of the World on Line 1 will cost five yuan.

An official with the Shenzhen Metro Company said passengers didn't have to worry about being overcharged as the table of metro fares has already been formulated. The Metro automatic ticket-selling system would also issue tickets based on the instruction of passengers, the official said.

Passengers will have to pay an extra five yuan (US$0.8), the maximum for a single ticket, if the Metro automatic system shows they have been on the subway for more than two hours, according to the guide booklets.

This is to prevent passengers from staying too long on the subway, the Metro company said.

 
Editor: Catherine