SHENZHEN plans to build five transport hubs across the city in the next three to five years, according to a plan released by the city’s transport commission.

    The hubs will be in Qianhai, in Luohu’s Pinghu area, at Futian’s Chegongmiao and at the Shenzhen airport.

    After the opening of the Futian High-speed Railway Station at the end of the year, the city will operate fast trains between Futian CBD, Shenzhen North Railway Station and Pingshan Station. The service will be extended to Shanwei City in eastern Guangdong in the future.

    The Ministry of Transport named Shenzhen a model city for its vast public transport network. Fifteen other cities were selected.

    According to the plan, public transport connections with Shenzhen North Railway Station, Shenzhen East Railway Station in Buji, Guangming Station and Pingshan Station will be faster and more efficient.

    The extension projects of the existing Metro lines and the under-construction lines will all be completed during the city’s 13th five-year plan period, which runs from 2016 to 2020.

    Between 2017 and 2025, Shenzhen will build 15 rail projects running a total of 400 kilometers. It will select 10 Metro construction plans and hand them to the Central Government for approval.

    The projects include the construction of the 20-kilometer Nanbao Line, or Metro Line 12, which will run from Sea World in Shekou to the Taoyuanju housing community in Bao’an District. This line will run under National Highway 107, which will be renovated into an urban road.

    Line 13 will be built to link the Shenzhen Bay Checkpoint and Shiyan Subdistrict in Bao’an District.

    Shenzhen has a deep-water port, the fourth-largest port in China, and is a meeting point for roads and rail lines.

    Shenzhen Port’s cargo throughput reached 24.04 million twenty-foot equivalent units, a unit of cargo measurement, in 2014, ranking third for the second straight year. Airport passenger turnover will hit 40 million this year. Around 643,000 travelers go through Shenzhen checkpoints each day and the city’s public transport handles 10.44 million rides a day.

    (Han Ximin)