The Line 1 of Wuhan Metro (Chinese: 武汉轨道交通一号线) is an elevated metro line in the city of Wuhan, Hubei. It is the longest continuous metro viaduct in the world. Line 1 opened on 28 July 2004,[1] making Wuhan the fifth city in mainland China to have a metro system after Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai and Guangzhou.[2] This is the first Metro line in China incorrectly referred to as a light rail (轻轨; qīngguǐ) line in Chinese terminology because it is elevated.[3] Originally a branch line was planned to cross the Yangtze to Wuchang District via the Second Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge.[4] The Second Wuhan River Bridge even had a provision in the central median where Line 1 trains would run in anticipation for the branch line when it opened in 1995. However, by 2003 the reservation was removed to allow for more traffic lanes when the bridge was undergoing renovation.[5]
^Wuhan, along with other three Chinese cities, has been the first batch to be approved to build so-called "light rail" system in China since 2000, see 2000年，国家批准长春、大连、武汉和重庆4个城市为首批轻轨建设示范城市. Archived from the original on 2014-01-08. Retrieved 2012-11-16.. However, Changchun built a true light-rail system, Dalian built a metro-style commuter rail system (and is referred to as 快轨; kuàiguǐ, not "轻轨qīngguǐ"), and Chongqing opted for a monorail system, whereas Wuhan was the only one to build an elevated metro system. See "Urbanrail—Wuhan"Archived 2010-04-09 at the Wayback Machine and affiliated Wikipedia pages. See also a comment from He Jibin, an Urban Planning official from Wuhan Municipality: "Do not assume only underground lines are metro, Line 1 is also a type of metro..." (“不要认为地下的才是地铁，1号线也是地铁的一种方式……”何继斌开门见山地纠正概念，他是武汉市国土规划局交通市政处处长……) Li Fei (李斐) (March 2012). 那些年，我们一起追的地铁. 大武汉. 148: 33. Archived from the original on 2012-10-14.
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