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Frontiers of Engineering Management

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Front. Eng    2017, Vol. 4 Issue (1) : 4-19    https://doi.org/10.15302/J-FEM-2017015
REVIEW ARTICLE
A review of metro construction in China: Organization, market, cost, safety and schedule
Lieyun DING(), Jie XU
Hubei Engineering Research Center for Virtual, Safe and Automated Construction, Wuhan 430074, China; Department of Construction Management, School of Civil Engineering and Mechanics, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, China
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Abstract

China is now in an era of large-scale metro construction. This paper reviews the nature of Chinese metro engineering with a specific focus on its organization and market mode, cost structure, safety control and schedule management. Then, an examination on recent research in metro engineering of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) is also conducted, which indicates that information and automation based technologies are increasingly used in practice.
Keywords metro engineering      construction status      construction challenges      NSFC     
Corresponding Author(s): Lieyun DING   
Online First Date: 07 April 2017    Issue Date: 19 April 2017
 Cite this article:   
Lieyun DING,Jie XU. A review of metro construction in China: Organization, market, cost, safety and schedule[J]. Front. Eng, 2017, 4(1): 4-19.
 URL:  
https://academic.hep.com.cn/fem/EN/10.15302/J-FEM-2017015
https://academic.hep.com.cn/fem/EN/Y2017/V4/I1/4
Organization type Management framework Function assignment Case
One metro corporation One metro headquarter including eight functional departments, two offices and one technical committee. • Metro headquarter: Responsible for the construction and operation of Guangzhou Rapid Rail Transit System as well as the development of real estate along the lines;
• Guangzhou Municipal Planning Commission Metro Finance Office: Responsible for financing.		 Guangzhou Metro
Several different professional companies One metro headquarter with six functional departments and several subsidiary companies responsible for investment, construction etc. • Metro Investment Company: As a real owner, responsible for financing;
• Metro Construction Company: As an executive owner, responsible for construction.		 Tianjin, Nanjing, and Shenzhen Metro
Four professional companies responsible for financing, construction, operation and supervision respectively. • Shen Tong Company: As a real owner, responsible for investment and financing;
• Metro Construction Company: Responsible for metro construction;
• Metro Operation Company: Responsible for metro operation;
• Rail Transit Administration: Responsible for metro industrial supervision.		 Shanghai Metro
One enterprise group including the construction company and operating company etc. • Urban Facility Investment Company: Responsible for planning and investment;
• Mero Construction Company: Responsible for construction management;
• Metro Operation Company: Responsible for operation;
• State owned Assets Management Committee: Responsible for supervision of the three companies.		 Beijing Metro
Tab.1  Chinese metro corporation organization modes (Liu, 2015)
Investment and financing mode Period Case
Government investment Early stage Beijing Metro Lines 1 and 2 (Chen, 2005)
Government-led debt financing Early and middle stages Shanghai Metro Line 1 (Xia, 2000), Beijing Metro Line Fu8 (Song and Chen, 2015)
Project financing
????BT Middle and late stages Beijing Metro Olympic Branch Line (Zhu et al., 2014a), Shenzhen Metro Line 5 (Wei et al., 2012)
????BOT Middle and late stages Shenzhen Metro Line 4 (Zhang et al., 2006), Nanjing Metro Line 2 (Yao et al., 2013)
Diversified financing (PPP) Currently Beijing Metro Line 4 (Wang, 2005), Nanjing Metro Line 1 (Zhang, 2014b)
Tab.2  Evolvement of Chinese metro investment and financing modes
Fig.1  Proportions of different costs of the B-6 group metro engineering
Fig.2  Statistical analysis of safety accidents in domestic metro construction in recent five years
Fig.3  The proportion and distribution of NSFC scientific programs of metro engineering (source: http://npd.nsfc.gov.cn/granttype1!index.action)
Fig.4  Number of research programs of the top 11 funded institutions
Fig.5  Amount of funds of the top 10 funded institutions
Fig.6  Annual changes of (a) program number and (b) the amount of funds
No. City Classification Population/106 Economy/(109 CNY) Construction plan
Urban Area Total GDP Local taxation Round Period Mileage/km
1 Beijing Municipality 1600 2171 2297 472 Early Stage 1969–2003 114.10
Round 1 2007–2016 536.40
Round 2 2015–2021 262.90
2 Shanghai Municipality 2415 2415 2497 552 Round 1 2003–2010 567.00
Round 2 2010–2015 250.55
3 Tianjin Municipality 900 1547 1654 267 Round 1 2005–2015 205.10
Round 2 2015–2020 228.10
4 Chongqing Municipality 830 3017 1572 216 Round 1 2006–2014 83.85
Round 2 2012–2020 215.04
5 Guangzhou Provincial capital 1263 1350 1810 512 Round 1 2003–2010 290.50
Round 2 2012–2018 228.90
6 Nanjing Provincial capital 642 824 972 102 Round 1 2004–2015 119.00
Round 2 2016–2021 196.40
7 Hangzhou Provincial capital 640 902 1005 224 Round 1 2005–2010 82.20
Round 2 2013–2019 106.60
8 Chengdu Provincial capital 712 1466 1080 117 Round 1 2005–2015 108.00
Round 2 2013–2020 262.40
Round 3 2016–2020 124.40
9 Wuhan Provincial capital 700 1061 1091 125 Round 1 2004–2010 59.70
Round 2 2010–2017 142.60
Round 3 2015–2021 173.50
10 Xi’an Provincial capital 600 871 581 65 Round 1 2006–2016 92.90
Round 2 2013–2021 65.10
11 Shenyang Provincial capital 630 829 728 61 Round 1 2003–2010 40.85
Round 2 2012–2018 118.00
12 Changchun Provincial capital 267 779 553 108 Early Stage 2000–2002 14.00
Round 1 2003–2010 37.50
Round 2 2010–2019 67.70
13 Urumqi Provincial capital 265 355 268 37 Round 1 2012–2019 47.90
Round 2 2016–2021 41.80
14 Guiyang Provincial capital 300 462 289 37 Round 1 2010–2020 56.00
Round 2 2016–2022 114.10
15 Wuxi Prefecture-level city 360 481 852 83 Round 1 2008–2015 56.00
Round 2 2013–2018 56.90
16 Wuhu Prefecture-level city 164 365 246 26 Round 1 2016–2020 46.90
17 Luoyang Prefecture-level city 197 700 351 29 Round 1 2008–2016 41.30
  Table A1 Statistics of metro construction plans of some domestic cities by 2015 (Source: http://www.sdpc.gov.cn/zcfb/zcfbtz/201501/t20150116_660386.html)
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