Transportation in Tianjin

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Tianjin has an extensive network of roads and railways and a major airport. Bicycle is a major means of transportation used in daily life in the city.

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[edit] Rail

There are several railway stations in the city, Tianjin Railway Station being the principal one. It was built in 1888, initially, the station was located at Wangdaozhuang (S: 旺道庄 / T: 旺道莊). The station was later moved to Laolongtou (S: 老龙头 / T: 老龍頭) on the banks of the Hai He River in 1892, so the station was renamed Laolongtou Railway Station. The station was rebuilt from scratch in 1988. The rebuilding work began on April 15, 1987 and was finished on October 1, 1988. The Tianjin Railway Station is also locally called the 'East Station', due to its geographical position.

Tianjin West Railway Station and Tianjin North Railway Station are also major railway stations in Tianjin. There is also Tanggu Railway Station is located in the important port area of Tanggu District, and TEDA Railway Station located in TEDA, to the north of Tanggu. There are several other railway stations in the city.

Construction on a Beijing-Tianjin high-speed rail began on July 4, 2005, and is scheduled to be completed in 2007.

The following rail lines go through Tianjin:

[edit] Roads and expressways

Some spots in Tianjin, including roads and bridges, have names from Dr. Sun Yat-Sen's Three Principles of the People (for example, Minquan Gate on Zhonghuan Road). Names harkening back to the era of the Republic of China on the mainland also appear (e.g. Beiyang Road). Many roads in Tianjin are named after a Chinese province or city. Also, Tianjin is unlike Beijing, in that very few roads run parallel to the major four compass directions.

Tianjin has three ring roads. Unlike Beijing, the Inner and Middle Ring Roads are not closed, traffic-controlled roadways and some often have traffic light intersections. The Outer Ring Road is the closest thing to a highway-level ring road, although traffic is often chaotic and sometimes more than chaotic.

Tianjin's roads often finish in dao (道 avenue), xian (S: 线 / T: 線 line, more used for highways and through routes) and lu (路 road). Jie (街 street) is rare. As Tianjin's roads are rarely in a cardinal compass direction, jing (S: 经 / T: 經) roads and wei (S: 纬 / T: 緯) roads often appear, which attempt to run more directly north-south and east-west, respectively.

The following seven expressways of China run in or through Tianjin:

The following six China National Highways pass through Tianjin:

[edit] Air

Tianjin Binhai International Airport (ZBTJ) is located to the east of the urban area, in Dongli District, Tianjin.

[edit] Public transit

The Tianjin tramway network was built by Belgian interests. The concession was given by the occupying powers in 1901 and recognized by the Chinese authorities in 1904. Tram services began in 1906. Tianjin was the first city to have its own city-wide tram system in China. Buses were introduced by the municipality in 1932. Tramwayswere withdrawn around 1972. There were 402 bus lines in the city as of 2004.

Construction work on the Tianjin Metro started on July 4, 1970. It was the second metro to be built in China and commenced service in 1984. The total length of track is 7.4 kilometers. The metro service was suspended on October 9, 2001 and is currently being rebuilt. This new metro will be called "Tianjin Metro Line 1". It is scheduled to be finished in the later half of 2005. The track will be extended to 26.188 kilometers and there will be a total of 22 stations. Previously, there were 8 stations. Several new metro lines are planned. Construction work on Line 2 and Line 3 will begin in late 2004.

There is also a light railway line in the city, the LRT Binhai Line. The line runs between downtown Tianjin and TEDA (Tianjin Economic Development Area) in the seaside region. The eastern part of the line began service on March 28, 2004. The western part of the line is scheduled to be completed in 2006.

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