First Yangtze-crossing subway opens in Wuhan

China's first under-river subway line crossing the Yangtze River has opened in Wuhan, capital of central Hubei province.

It takes three minutes to pass through a 27 kilometer tunnel that links Wuchang and Hankou, two major urban areas in Wuhan. Trains started operating on Friday morning at a speed of 80 kilometers per hour. The line took six years to construct and another three months of passenger-less test runs. It is expected to carry 5-hundred thousand passengers daily, with 26 trains scheduled to run every six minutes.

The 63 hundred kilometer Yangtze River, which flows from northwest China's Qinghai province through 10 provinces and municipalities before reaching the East China Sea, is a major transport link between west and east China.