Chitchat for the
Year End
After
a year's busy, diligent
and strained work,
we're going to say
good-bye to 2003,
a significant year
for those who work
in urban mass transit
professions. Since
the first metro of
the world was built
in London in 1863,
140 years have passed.
Today, more and more
people have identified
the superior functions
of UMT in solving
urban traffic congestion
and optimizing urban
structural layout.
Now the metro and
LRT were built in
144 cities of the
world. It is reported
that 269km's urban
rail lines are on
operation in Beijing,
Shanghai, Guangzhou
and Dalian, 358.9km's
new lines are under
construction in 10
cities and more than
30 other cities have
entered the earlier
stage of urban rail
construction. In this
May, “Standards for
Metro Design” was
jointly released by
the State Bureau of
Quality Supervision
& Quarantine and
the Ministry of Construction,
and was put into implementation
starting from August.
In September, the
General Office of
the State Council
issued a notification
to strengthen the
construction and management
of urban rapid rail
transit, which makes
the policy of UMT
sequential development
even more explicit.
From Novermber 22
to 23, the 2003 Annual
Meeting of UMT Council
and Editorial Board
was grandly held in
Tongmao Hotel of Pudong
district, Shanghai.
Mr. Zhou Ganshi, an
Academician of Chinese
Scientific Academy
and Chinese Engineering
Academy dispatched
a congratulatory letter
for the meeting, in
which he stressed
the crucial function
of UMT in solving
congestion especially
in bigger cities.
Prof. Guo Chongqing
of Tongji University,
an Academician of
Chinese Engineering
Academy made a report
on “The basic conception
for the integrated
transit network planning,
the opportunity and
challenge for the
manufacture of urban
transportation equipment
in China”. Prof.Zhou
Yimin, director of
the Editorial Board
of UMT(EBU) reported
on “The pluralistic
and multilevel development
of UMT and the reginoal
intercity railway
construction in China”;
Prof. He Zonghua,
a member of EBU reported
on “The Standard system
of public transportation
construction engineering
in Chinese cities”;
Prof. Wang Yuefan,
a member of EBU, made
an arguement on the
disjointedness of
civil engineering
and vehicle manufacture
in the process of
UMT construction (his
speech is published
in full text in this
issue as a response
to the requests of
the participates).
Prof. Huang Zhong,
a member of EBU reported
on “Vehicle control
system based on wireless
communication”; Mr.
Yang Hong, Chief General
of Modern Rail Transit
Company Ltd., introduced
in detail the technical
standards and operational
management of Shanghai
urban rail transit
Line 5. In the end,
Prof. Sun Zhang, Chief
Editor of UMT summarized
the works done in
2003 and expressed
wishes for new development
in 2004.
During the conference,
all participates including
the members of UMT
Council and Editorial
Board inspected Shanghai
urban rail transit
by taking on board
the Line 5 and the
maglev vehicle. They
praised the organization
of the annual meeting
for the effectiveness
and practical discussion,
also they are satisfied
with the provided
materials like the
bound volume of 2003
UMT, the “Old and
new Standards for
Metro Design” and
“Chronicle of UMT
Events in 2002-2003”.
All participates looked
forward to the reunion
in the annual meeting
of 2004.
