Kone, the Finnish global leader in the elevator and escalator industry, has won two new orders in China; one for the extension of the Shanghai Metro, the other regarding escalators Lanzhou Metro.
Kone will equip the nine new stations along the southern extension of Shanghai Metro Line 5 in China’s biggest city. The order includes 69 TransitMaster(TM) escalators and 24 MonoSpace elevators.
The Shanghai Metro opened in 1993 and has expanded rapidly with some nine million people now traveling on its 14 lines every day. Line 5 was opened in 2003 and its existing stations are all above ground. In the new southern extension, four of the nine new stations will be underground.
“We are very excited to be involved in this expansion of the Shanghai Metro, one of the busiest rapid rail networks in the world,” said William B. Johnson, Executive Vice President for Kone Greater China. “We are proud to offer our people flow solutions to help smoothen the journey for Shanghai’s commuters.”
The Finnish corporation has previously provided elevators and escalators to six stations in the extension of Shanghai Metro Line 3.
In addition is the order for the first phase of the Lanzhou Metro project in Gansu Province, northwest China. The order includes 117 TransitMaster(TM) escalators, to be installed along Lanzhou Metro Line 1, which includes 20 underground stations and covers a distance of some 26 km. The line travels through downtown Lanzhou City, known for its history as an important connection point on the ancient Silk Road and as a crossing point over the Yellow River, which flows through the provincial capital.
Line 1 is the first of three metro lines to be included in the Lanzhou underground network. Construction on the line, which runs from Chenguanying station to Donggang station, began in 2012 and is due to be completed in 2018.
