Richard Han

    THE opening of Metro Line 3 will greatly change the life of Liu Ming, a resident in Yitian Village in southern Futian District.

    Working in Longgang District, he has to squeeze into a bus before 7 a.m. to get to his office on time.

    The nightmare will end soon when the line opens June 28. It will then take him an hour at the most to reach his office in Longgang.

    “The opening of the Metro Line will improve the quality of my life and I’ll have more time to rest, exercise and do things as I like,” Liu said.

    According to the plan finalized by the city government, the extension of Metro Line 1 from Shen Da (Shenzhen University) to Ji Chang Dong (Airport East) will open Wednesday. The extension of Line 4 from Shao Nian Gong (Children’s Palace) to Qing Hu will open the following day. Line 5 from Qian Hai Wan (Qianhai Bay) to Huang Bei will open June 22 and the extensions of Line 2 and Line 3 will open June 28.

    The opening of the five extensions will take the total Metro length in the city to 178 kilometers. An online survey showed 96 percent respondents will change their commuting habits after the Metro extensions open and public transport will be the first choice for daily commuting. The Metro lines will carry one-third of daily commuters, or about 2 million.

    “We don’t need to worry about being late for the office because of traffic jams, or about the high cost of taxi fares,” said Li Zhi who works at Nanshan Hi-tech Park.

    Compared with other means of transport, the Metro is more efficient and runs on time. “When Line 2 opens, I will not have to drive,” said Zhang Qian, who lives in Jingtian and works in Luohu. It takes Zhang only five minutes to walk to Jing Tian Station.

    Taxi drivers fear their business could be affected because Metro is cheaper than taxis.