China metro networks in mainland China reached 10,004.8km by the end of 2025. Official statistics released recently show the total. Over the previous year, new metro construction on 44 lines added 731.5km. This is reported by the railway transport news portal Railway Supply.

China metro networks reach 10,004.8km
Photo: wikipedia

Also, the figures cover network size and passenger traffic by city. They also cover the operating-cost gap faced by metro operators.

Passenger traffic varied across the largest urban rail networks. Shanghai and Beijing each recorded a small 1% decline. Shanghai carried 3.72 billion passengers, while 3.58 billion in Beijing. Several other major systems reported growth. Guangzhou carried 3.4 billion passengers, up 4.51%. Meanwhile, Shenzhen reached 3.29 billion, an increase of 5.91%. Chengdu recorded 2.26 billion passengers, up 2.15%.

China metro networks and ridership trends

Guangzhou also had the most intensively used individual metro routes. For Line 1, the average daily figure was 4.26 million. For Line 2, it was 3.45 million. For Line 8, it was 2.69 passenger-km. Separately, other heavily used lines were in Xi’an, Shanghai, Changsha, Shenzen and Beijing. They recorded average daily passenger-km of between 2.14 million and 2.65 million.

At the same time, network expansion is continuing. International Railway Journal reported 2544.14km under construction at the end of 2025. The metro infrastructure was spread across 35 Chinese cities. Further additions are planned. They include 400km of new lines in both Shanghai and Shenzhen. In addition, 300km are planned in both Beijing and Chongqing. The plans also include 150km in Ningbo, Xiamen and Qingdao.

Operating costs and government subsidy

Still, many of China’s metro operators operate at a loss. They depend on significant government subsidy to break even. For example, consolidated data covers 35 cities. The national average operating cost per vehicle-km last year was Yuan 35.28 ($US 5.19). That was almost twice the average revenue. The average operating cost per passenger-km was Yuan 1.63. It was up Yuan 0.14. It was about two-thirds higher than average income.

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