ContiTech is First Choice for Shanghai Metro

August 2010The metro system in Shanghai has been expanded substantially for the 2010 World Expo. ContiTech equipped almost all the new lines with air springs.

Preparations for the 2010 World Expo have been keeping Shanghai working tirelessly now for over seven years. A gigantic project of the 20-million megacity is the extension of its metro system. ContiTech Railway Engineering, a segment of ContiTech’s air spring operations, is also involved in the project. That segment has equipped almost all the lines of the new metro system with air springs.

The World Expo will open its doors in Shanghai on May 1, 2010. It is supposed to be the first ‘green’ Expo in the history of the World Expo event. Shanghai has prepared itself for the steady stream of visitors with 11 lines and over 300 kilometers of tracks. Among other things, touch screen terminals have been set up for passenger convenience when buying tickets. Other ambitious expansion plans have long been worked out: seven new lines are scheduled for construction within the next 15 years.

For years, Shanghai has been in the process of dramatically expanding its metro system. Nine of the eleven subway lines built so far have been equipped with air springs from ContiTech Railway Engineering – seven of them with ContiTech air spring systems, and two of them with systems marketed under the company’s Phoenix brand. “This makes us Shanghai Metro’s most important partner in the field of air springs”, says Friedrich Hoppmann, head of the ContiTech Railway Engineering segment.