The first phase of Nanning Rail Transit Metro Line 5 starts officially operating on Dec 17. [Photo by Yu Jing/China News Service]

The first phase of Nanning Rail Transit Metro Line 5 started official operation on Dec 17, and is Guangxi's first fully-automated rail transit line, making the capital of Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region China's seventh city to house such lines.

The 20.2-kilometer metro line has 17 stations from Guokai Dadao to Jinqiao Coach Station and functions as a southwest-northeast arterial line in Nanning.

The design and construction of the whole line adhere to the standards of the level-4 grade of automation (GoA4) and new technologies such as fully automatic operation systems, building information modeling (BIM) and smart stations have been applied.

Locals experience Nanning Rail Transit Metro Line 5. [Photo by Yu Jing/China News Service]

Twenty-four trains operate on the line with a maximum speed of 80 km per hour. Each train has 232 seats and can accommodate up to 2,080 passengers.

Two smart pilot stations on the line, namely the Guangxi University and Xiaojicun stations, are able to provide efficient and convenient smart services for passengers. They can adjust equipment such as lighting and broadcasting equipment and elevators according to passenger flow. 

A man interacts with a smart inquiry robot at the metro station. [Photo by Yu Jing/China News Service]

The passenger handling capacity of Nanning's metro lines is estimated to account for 59.5 percent of Nanning's total public transportation passengers in 2021, making metro lines more important to the city's public transport network.