Fifteen years ago, when Hefei people talked about rail transit, it was still just a planning blueprint. The provincial capital's GDP hovered around 300 billion yuan, and the core urban area stopped at the green edges of the Ring City Park.

Fifteen years flashed by. At the end of 2025, when the Phase I trains of Metro Line 6 pulled into the station, Hefei's operational rail network exceeded 259 kilometers, with over 1.5 million passenger trips daily across this moving grid.

On March 4, Hefei's metro recorded a single‑day ridership of 2,386,900 trips, a 64.5% increase year‑on‑year.

Behind the tremendous popularity lies the solid support of a progressively denser rail network. By the end of 2025, Phase I of Hefei Metro Line 6 opened on schedule — an east‑west arterial that links the Eastern New Center, the old city, and the High‑Tech Zone, enabling seamless connection and synchronized development between the city's eastern and western wings.

As the flagship project closing out Hefei's 14th Five‑Year rail program, the opening of Line 6 Phase I not only encapsulates five years of construction achievements but also officially inaugurates the 15th Five‑Year Plan chapter of high‑quality rail development. Looking back over the 14th Five-Year Plan, Hefei's regional GDP climbed four consecutive one‑hundred‑billion‑yuan thresholds to surpass 1.4 trillion yuan, and its resident population entered the ten‑million‑plus city tier.

From Line 1 opening the north‑south urban axis, to Line 5 connecting north and south and Line 2 extending to Feidong, and now Line 6 energizing the east, Hefei's rail lines have drawn not merely transport corridors but gravity lines for resource flows and contour lines of urban development.

It is accelerating the breakup of Hefei's traditional "strong west, weak east" pattern. The Eastern New Center — once an "industrial rust belt" — has rapidly transformed with the arrival of rail into a new science‑innovation, industrial, and ecological city centered on the "China Internet Valley."

Sparks of innovation have splashed from construction into industrial fertile ground

Within Line 6's "full‑space intelligent sensing system," the core monitoring technologies from local firm Zhidi Sensing were implemented, stimulating upstream industries such as fiber‑optic sensors; the low‑altitude drones of CRSC Hefei integrated with the system, and after scenario iterations their intelligent algorithms were exported across regions, spurring development in drone modification, data transmission terminals, and other supporting industries — forming a virtuous cycle of technical validation and market expansion.

Power‑supply intelligent inspection robots and PV‑storage‑charging projects have created core application scenarios for local equipment manufacturers. Csg Smart Science & Technology's inspection robots drove upgrades in smart power inspection technology; CRRC Hefei's energy‑saving breakthroughs promoted localization of key components and nurtured energy‑efficiency management firms; and PV‑storage‑charging projects, aligned with "dual‑carbon" goals, generated scaled demand for related enterprises.

This exemplifies Hefei's 14th Five‑Year Plan period of deep integration between technological and industrial innovation. As a mega‑project with heavy investment, intensive technology, and long industrial chains, rail transit is becoming an important platform for incubating new quality productive forces and forging a modern industrial system.

People‑centered, weaving a warm "urban life network"

The ultimate value of rail transit lies in serving people, warming lives, and empowering citizens.

Every weekend at Hefei No.7 Middle School station, students dragging suitcases can enter quickly via a "honor whitelist" system — a tailored benefit for young students; at Baogong Park station, renovated senior‑friendly ticket machines with magnifying glasses and guide strips help older passengers bridge the "digital divide."

At Hefei Railway Station stops, travelers with large luggage can book a "care express" for relay assistance from station staff; at Xingfuba station, the country's first on‑station marriage registration office has witnessed the start of married life for over 3,700 couples.

These small details reveal the warmth and character of a city.

Service extends beyond the station. Hefei Metro is working to weave an urban life network "built on metro bones, integrated across multiple networks." The city has opened over 70 rail‑connecting bus routes and coordinated regulated bike‑sharing parking to ensure orderly last‑mile connections.

All 183 stations have achieved full coverage of accessibility facilities, and 53 "Lei Feng service stations" served over ten million people throughout the year.

"We consider not only 'moving people' but how to turn commuting time into life time, consumption time, and social time," said the head of operations at Hefei Metro Group.

Consequently, convenience services like luggage storage, laundry, and quick haircuts have been introduced into stations; the "Civic Affairs Guide" government service stations let citizens run errands en route; cultural markets, art exhibitions, and themed trains transform cold commute corridors into mobile cultural living rooms.

This deep "rail + life + culture" integration vividly interprets Hefei's concept of building a "modern people‑centered city." While driving rapid urban growth, it maintains a human scale and warm foundation for people's livelihoods.

The future is here, steering the metropolitan ambition of the 15th Five‑Year Plan

At the historical intersection of a triumphant close to the 14th Five-Year Plan and the grand opening of the 15th Five-Year Plan, Hefei's ambitions are clear and grand: to push GDP toward 2 trillion yuan, climb the urban rankings, and strive to become an internationally influential source of technological innovation.

In this future blueprint, rail transit is entrusted with a more central and demanding strategic mission.

It is the "steel backbone" of metropolitan integration. According to Hefei's 15th Five‑Year plan, the city will fully implement the "11655" comprehensive transport construction program with the aim of becoming an international comprehensive transport hub. Achieving the "four‑network integration" of trunk railways, intercity rail, suburban rail, and urban rail transit is key to building a modern comprehensive transport system.

In the future, as the network becomes denser, rail transit's modal share of public transport trips will rise significantly, providing crucial support for Hefei to reach its carbon‑peak goal on schedule and leading society toward a greener, more efficient travel culture.

From following urban development to leading urban form, from meeting transport demand to defining lifestyles, from mega engineering to industrial‑ecology platform, the changing role of Hefei rail reflects the deep evolution of the city's development philosophy.

It is no longer merely tracks beneath the ground but the cable that pulls the city's capacity upward, the gauge that measures people's happiness, and the rail toward boundless future possibilities.

From "urban artery" to "regional hub," Hefei rail's next journey will compete not only on construction speed and mileage but on the courage of institutional innovation, the wisdom of coordinated coexistence, and the foresight of long‑term operation.

Source: anhuinews.com