The Chengdu Metro is the rapid transit system of Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan, China. The system opened with Line 1 on 27 September 2010, and the system now has seventeen subway lines and one light rail line. It has subsequently undergone rapid expansion. Since the opening of Lines 6, 8, 9, and 17 on 18 December 2020, the Chengdu Metro is the 4th longest metro system in the world.
There are currently (September 2025) 17 operating subway lines totaling of track, and 1 tram line (Line T2) covering . The Chengdu Metro serves about 6 million trips per day. As of 2021, about 2.2 million and 4.6 million people live within of a subway station in Chengdu, respectively.
Timeline LineTerminalsCommencementLength kmStation(s)Name 01 Shengxian Lake — Century City 27 September 2010 16 Phase 1 Chadianzi Bus Terminal — Chengdu Institute of Public Administration 16 September 2012 20 Phase 1 Jincheng Plaza opens 8 June 2013 — 1 Infill station Xipu — Chadianzi Bus Terminal 6 Phase 2 (eastern section) Chengdu Institute of Public Administration — Longquanyi 26 October 2014 6 Phase 2 (western section) Century City — Guangdu 25 July 2015 5 Phase 2 Intangible Cultural Heritage Park — Wannianchang 26 December 2015 16 Phase 1 Chengdu Junqu General Hospital — Taipingyuan 31 July 2016 17 Phase 1 Wansheng — Intangible Cultural Heritage Park 2 June 2017 8 Phase 2 Wannianchang — Xihe 6 Taipingyuan — Shuangliu International Airport Terminal 2 6 September 2017 6 Phase 1 Cuijiadian — Cuijiadian 6 December 2017 31 Initial phase Shengxian Lake — Weijianian 18 March 2018 1 Phase 3 Sihe — Science City 11 Guangdu — Wugensong 1 Shuangliu International Airport Terminal 2 — Xinping 27 September 2019 10 Phase 2 Huagui Road — Huilong 27 December 2019 41 Phase 1 & 2 South Railway Station — Sancha 27 September 2020 8 Phase 1 Wangcong Temple — Lanjiagou 18 December 2020 56 Initial phase Shilidian — Lianhua 25 Phase 1 Financial City East — Huangtianba 13 Phase 1 Jinxing — Jitouqiao 9 Phase 1 Sancha — Tianfu International Airport North 1 Phase 2 Tianfu International Airport Terminal 1 & 2 opens 27 June 2021 — 1 Infill station Futian opens 13 August 2023 — 1 Infill station Jinxing — Jiujiang North 22 September 2023 -6 Line 17 & 19 split project Jinxing — Jiujiang North 7 Phase 1 Tianfu Station opens 28 November 2023 — 1 Infill station Jiujiang North — Tianfu Station 11 Phase 2 Qingdao Road opens 8 April 2024 — 1 Infill station Futian — Ziyang Bei 29 September 2024 7 Initial phase Guilong Road — Shilidian 19 December 2024 6 Phase 2 Lianhua — Longgang 1 Shifo — Shuxin Road 23 Phase 1 Lujiao opens 22 August 2025 — 1 Infill station Wuhou Shrine — Taipingyuan 17 September 2025 3 Phase 3 (initial section) Jitouqiao — Gaohong 18 Phase 2 Wayaotan — Longan 16 December 2025 21 Phase 1 East of Terminal 2 of Shuangliu International Airport — Longquanqi Railway Station South 22 Phase 1
Operating network There are 17 subway lines covering with 447 stations, and a light rail line with 36 stops (Line T2) covering .
LineTerminals(District/County) Commencement NewestExtension Lengthkm Stations Weijianian(Jinniu) Science City(Shuangliu) 27 September 2010 18 March 2018 41.00 35 Wugensong(Shuangliu) Xipu(Pidu) Longquanyi(Longquanyi) 16 September 2012 26 October 2014 42.27 32 Chengdu Medical College(Xindu) Shuangliu West Station(Shuangliu) 31 July 2016 26 December 2018 49.89 37 Wansheng(Wenjiang) Xihe(Longquanyi) 26 December 2015 2 June 2017 43.48 30 (Xindu) (Shuangliu) 27 December 2019 — 49.01 41 Wangcong Temple(Pidu) Lanjiagou(Shuangliu)18 December 2020—68.8856 (loop line) Cuijiadian(Chenghua) Cuijiadian(Chenghua) 6 December 2017 — 38.63 31 Guilong Road(Chenghua) Longgang(Shuangliu)18 December 202019 December 202436.7132 Financial City East(Jinjiang) Huangtianba(Qingyang)18 December 2020—22.1813 (Wuhou) (Xinjin) 6 September 2017 17 September 2025 43.88 19 (Qingyang) Long'an(Longquanyi) 16 December 2025 29.07 21 Jiujiang North(Shuangliu) (Chenghua)18 December 202017 September 202531.4721 South Railway Station(Wuhou) (Jianyang) 27 September 2020 18 December 2020 69.99 12 Jinxing(Wenjiang) Tianfu Station / (Tianfu New Area) / (Jianyang) 18 December 202028 November 202363.3118 Shifo(Xindu) Shuxin Road(Qingyang) 19 December 2024—24.8622 (Shuangliu) (Longquanyi) 16 December 2025 — 27.96 22 Futian(Jianyang) Ziyang Bei Station(Yanjiang, Ziyang) 29 September 2024—38.76Total721.3447
Annual urban-rail passenger volume reported for Chengdu by CAMET. Values are passenger-trips in units of 10,000; reporting scope may include non-metro urban-rail modes and can vary by year.China Association of Metros, 2012 annual statistical report and 2025 annual statistical report. The linked Commons data pages identify the intervening annual reports and preserve their source URLs.
Raw passenger-volume data
Year-end urban-rail operating length reported for Chengdu by CAMET, separating the metro series from the all-mode city total where both are reported.
Raw operating-length data
Line 1
The first phase of Line 1 cost 7 billion yuan to construct.Huang Zhiling and Bao Xinyan, Work begins on new metro schemes, China Daily, 2005-12-29 A natural ventilation system has been used in the underground section of Line 1 on the subway system from Southern Third Ring Road to Jincheng Plaza Station. Square ventilation units are built every along the subway top to allow fresh air from the ground enter the construction site underground. The method is used in subway construction in other countries as it cuts the construction cost and it saves energy. The subway system is the first in China to adopt such a ventilation system during construction. Chengdu Metro is planning to set up a section for subway fire control and introduce the latest fire fighting technologies and vehicles. Line 1's color is dark blue.Chengdu Municipal Government, Subway to Adopt Natural Ventilation , Retrieved on 2007-03-13
Line 2
Line 2 is a crosstown northwest–southeast trunk route. This line serves the Chengdu East railway station. Line 2 began operation on 16 September 2012. An long mostly elevated extension to Longquanyi began testing in April 2014 opened in October 2014. Line 2's color is orange.
Line 3
Line 3 runs in a northeast–southwest direction from Chengdu Medical College to Shuangliu West Station. Phase 1 of this line began construction on 28 April 2012, and opened on 31 July 2016. It was Chengdu's final line to use the lower capacity type B trains, subsequent lines favoring the longer and wider Type A cars. Line 3's color is magenta.
Line 4
Line 4 is the third line to enter revenue service on the metro network in Chengdu, Sichuan. Line 4 runs in an east–west direction, stretching from Wansheng in Wenjiang to Xihe in the Longquanyi. The first phase started construction on 22 July 2011, and began operation on 26 December 2015. Testing began on the east of west extensions of Line 4 as part of Phase II expansion on 10 December 2016. Line 4's color is green. It was the first line to use the longer and wider Type A trains, which are higher capacity.
Line 5
Line 5 is a crosstown north–south trunk line. Despite being numbered such, it was the seventh line to open, having started operation on 27 December 2019. Line 5's color is purple.
Line 6
Line 6 is a crosstown northwest–south-west pivotal line. It is the second longest metro line in Chengdu. It has more stations than any other metro line in China, with 54 currently plus two more infill stations coming later. It is one of the four lines to have started operation on 18 December 2020. Line 6's color is brown.
Line 7
Line 7 is a loop line which runs around downtown Chengdu. Despite the number, it was actually the sixth line to open, having started operation on 6 December 2017. Line 7's color is sky blue.
Line 8
Line 8 is a crosstown northeast–southwest metro line. It connects the Wangjiang and Jiang'an campuses of Sichuan University. Phase 1 began operation on 18 December 2020, the same day as lines 6, 9, and 18. Phase 2 opened on 19 December 2024. Line 8's color is chartreuse.
Line 9
Line 9 is planned to be the system's second circle line when it is fully completed according to plan. It is the first driverless metro line in Mid/West China. Phase 1 started operation on 18 December 2020. Line 9's color is bright orange.
Line 10
Line 10 serves Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport. It started operation on 6 September 2017. It was also the first line in the system to use the higher-capacity type A trains. Line 10's color is blue.
Line 13
Line 13 is a metro line in Central Chengdu. It started operation on 16 December 2025.
Line 17
Line 17 is a metro line in Central Chengdu. Phase 1, including phase 1 of line 19, started operation on 18 December 2020. On 22 September 2023, the Jinxing-Jiujiang North section was integrated into Line 19. Like line 18 is uses a special variant of Type A trains with one less door per side and using 25 kV AC overhead power, as opposed to the "standard" 1500 V DC most newer metros in China use. Line 17's color is pale green.
Line 18
Line 18 is the first express metro line in the city. It parallels the southern section of Line 1 serving Tianfu New Area. It started operation on 27 September 2020. Phase 2 started operation on 18 December 2020. It is the third longest metro line in China after Chongqing Line 6 being the longest and Shanghai Line 11 in second place. It is still however the longest line that does not have any branches. Like line 17, it uses a special variant of Type A trains with one less door per side and using 25 kV AC overhead power. Line 18's color is teal.
Line 19
Line 19 is an express metro line linking Shuangliu International Airport and Tianfu International Airport. It partly shares the track with Line 18 between Tianfu Station and Tianfu Airport North. It started operation on 22 September 2023. Line 19's color is light purple.
Line 27
Line 27 is connects several northern regions of the city. It's the city's second metro line that use driverless trains. Line 27's color is light blue.
Line 30
Line 30 links Shuangliu International Airport and Longquanyi Railway Station. The metro station (Longquanyi Railway Station South) is located at the south side of the Longquanyi Railway Station (formerly known as Shilingnan Railway Station). It started operation on 16 December 2025. Despite its number, it was only the sixteenth line to open.
Line S3
Line S3 is an express metro line linking Futian in Jianyang, Chengdu to Ziyang North Railway Station in Ziyang. It is the first intercity rapid transit line of Chengdu Metro system. It started operation on 29 September 2024. Line S3's color is grey.
Tram Line 2
Chengdu Tram Line 2 serves the north-west part of the city without a metro line. The line uses low-floor trams derived from the Alstom Citadis. Tram Line 2's color is light green.
History
Inception In 1985, the Chengdu Planning Bureau set up an integrated transportation planning office which began the process of the planning for a rapid transit network for Chengdu. By 1992, a proposal for the subway was sent to the National Planning Commission and was subsequently rejected. In 2004 before the approval of the National Development and Reform Commission Chengdu started reconstructing Tianfu Square with provisions for Tianfu Square station. The first phase of Chengdu Metro, consisting of Lines 1 and 2, were approved by the NDRC on 11 September 2005.
First phase projects 2005 Line 1 construction commenced on 28 December 2005.
2007 Construction of Line 2 began on 29 December 2007.
2009 In May 2009, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) approved western and eastern extensions of Line 2, along with the first phase of Lines 3 and 4.
2010 Line 1 opened on 27 September 2010.http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2010-09/27/content_11355596.htm, China Daily, 2010-09-27
2011