Workers at celebration of tunneling completion.

A TUNNEL on the last section of Metro Line 5 between Fanshen and Lingzhi was completed Sunday and the 40-kilometer line is now ready for track laying and equipment installation.

It marked the completion of the entire tunneling project and laid a solid foundation for trials in June next year, a release from Shenzhen Metro said.

Metro Line 5, from Qianhai Bay in Nanshan District to Huangbeiling in Luohu District, is the longest and most complicated in the city underground network. Costing 20.6 billion yuan (US$3 billion), it was the city's first BT (build and transfer) rail project.

The Metro line has 27 stations in the city's north and crosses four districts.

According to the construction schedule, track laying will be finished by the end of July and the power lines are expected to be in place by the end of November.

Metro Line 5 is important because it interchanges with Metro Line 3 which is built to service the 2011 Universiade.

The project started in December 2007 and was praised by city officials for starting the latest and progressing the fastest.

At a ceremony Sunday, Zhao Pinglin, vice secretary general of the city government, announced trials this year for the 11-km extension of Metro Line 1 from Shenda to Xixiang, the 14-kilometer Metro Line 2 from Chiwan in Shekou to the Window of the World, and the 25-km Metro Line 3 between Shuanglong in Longgang and Caopu in Luohu.

Source:Shenzhen Daily