By the end of 2024, a total of 28 provinces and 58 cities in Chinese mainland have opened 362 urban rail transit lines, covering a total length of 12,168.77 km, including 9,281.37 km of subway lines, accounting for 76.27%. By the end of the statistical period, 1,486.01 km of Fully Automated Operation (FAO) lines have been opened, representing 12.21% of the total length of operational lines. In 2024, 51 new urban rail transit lines (sections) were added, with a total length of 953.04 km, including 738.26 km of new metro lines and 425.70 km of new FAO lines, all of which were classified as GoA4. It is expected that by the end of the 14th FiveYear Plan period, the total operating scale of urban rail transit in mainland China will exceed 13,200 km. It is estimated that the annual passenger volume at the end of the 14th FiveYear Plan period will double compared to the end of the 13th FiveYear Plan period.

To promote the quality and efficiency of inventory areas in metropolitans, urban renewal of transit station areas in cityn centers presents an urgent challenge. By incorporating the Quality dimension into the traditional NodePlace model to indicate the perception of spatial environment, this study constructs the NodePlaceQuality Rubik's Cube state model to assess the renewal potentialof transit station areas in the downtown. Using Tianjin's central area as a case study, the modeling results show that the proportion of dependent and imbalanced types of transit station area is as high as 35.49% and 38.71%, respectively, while balanced and coordinated types account for 22.58% and 3.22%, respectively. The transit station areas with high renewal potential are concentrated in the edge of the Inner Ring of Tianjin, and the renewal potential of transit station under construction is also relatively high, while the transit station areas with low renewal potential are agglomerated in the central business district (CBD). These findings provide theoretical support and policy insights for the urban renewal in the transit station area in the metropolitan's downtown.

This study uses multisource big data (e.g., metro card transactions, mobile phone signaling, and points of interest (POIs)) and interpretable machine learning methods (integrating random forest and Shapley additive explanations (SHAP) models) to investigate the nonlinear relationship between stationarea built environments and Chengdu Metro ridership as well as the synergistic effects among built environment variables. The results indicate that the three most important built environment determinants of metro ridership are the floor area ratio, employment density, and road density. Moreover, the SHAP model results reveal the threshold and synergistic effects of the stationarea built environment variables on metro ridership. These findings provide theoretical support and policy insights for transitoriented developmental (TOD) planning and practice.

This paper addresses the problem of mismatch with the surrounding urban renewal when applying the TOD stationcity integrated development model to domestic rail transit stations. Based on the classic nodeplace (NP) model and the introduced nodeplaceridership (NPR) model with passenger flow, this study takes Xi'an Metro Line 3 as an example. Relying on spatiotemporal big data, passenger flow data within 24 hours for six consecutive months are selected to calculate the basic indicators of 26 stations, which are classified into six categories: placeahead and low ridership, deficient and low ridership, matching and midlow ridership, nodeahead and midhigh ridership, nodeahead and midlow ridership, and saturated nodeahead and high ridership. This results indicate that Xi'an Metro Line 3 has the characteristics of a relatively higher node value and a lower place value. Given the identification of the same characteristics across the six station types, we propose precise matching strategies for placeahead, coordinated, and ahead type stations. Specifically, placeahead stations should prioritize connection with other transportation modes and pedestrian accessibility, coordinated stations should optimize supporting facilities and explore the potential of place features on this basis, and ahead stations should integrate resources to form railway microcenters. These three processoriented transformation measures can be applied to other regions and contribute to improved station function and service.

The concept of speed efficiency was proposed to measure the travel speed efficiency of urban rail transit lines. This study analyzed the operating data of 170 urban rail transit lines in China, including fully closedoperated subway, light rail, and monorail systems, considering only the train operating mode at station stops. The analysis covered various factors such as average station spacing, line design speed, and travel speed. The results showed that most lines (approximately 64%) have a design speed of 80 km/h, with average station spacing ranging from 1.0 to 2.5 km. Among these lines, about 90% have a travel speed between 30 and 40 km/h, with speed efficiency distributed between 37.5% and 50.0%. Additionally, the study quantitatively analyzed the relationships between travel speed, average station spacing, and design speed, finding both positive and negative correlations. Finally, based on fitted travel speed and speed efficiency formulas and actual data, the corresponding distribution relationships of average station spacing, design speed, travel speed, and speed efficiency were calculated. These findings provide a reference for determining a reasonable travel speed range and speed efficiency for urban rail transit lines.

The positive externalities of urban rail transit necessitate a comprehensive economic costbenefit analysis when evaluating project economic feasibility. In response to the latest requirements for preparing the outline and explanation of the project feasibility report, this study conducted a multidimensional study on the economic costbenefit of urban rail transit. Firstly, identify economic costs and benefits from three dimensions: government, enterprises, and the public, establish a threelevel quantitative+qualitative indicator system, expand quantitative indicators from 5 to 13, and add 14 qualitative indicators; Secondly, conduct research on key indicator analysis methods, propose quantitative methods for driving GDP, fiscal revenue, and increasing employment, break through the current difficulties in evaluating the macroeconomic contribution of urban rail transit, and improve the calculation methods for time saving benefits, fatigue reduction benefits, and traffic accident reduction benefits; Finally, it is clarified that there are 9 indicators that can be included and 4 indicators that cannot be included in the economic costbenefit analysis flow table, and a comprehensive evaluation of the project's economic costbenefit is conducted through case studies to provide support for earlystage decisionmaking and promote sustainable development of the industry.

Renovating existing lines is a key longterm task for achieving highquality and sustainable development of urban rail transit in China. Technical standards are essential for initiating, designing, and implementing renovation projects. This paper reviews the current technical standard system for urban rail transit and examines the suitability of existing standards for each stage of the renovation process. To address the issues of incomplete coverage, low applicability, and poor relevance of existing standards, we propose two approaches and schemes for developing a new technical standard system for renovating urban rail transit lines, along with the principles for constructing and formulating the standards. We focus on the technical standards for renovation, including the requirements for renovation determination, design, construction, acceptance, safety assessment, and postevaluation.

Synthetic sleepers of fiberreinforced polyurethane foam were initially applied in urban railway traffic to adapt to the linear induction motor system, and they have been developed into national and heavyhaul railways in recent years. Synthetic sleepers have been widely researched and applied nationwide owing to their excellent overall performance. The technological development history and standards of synthetic sleepers in China were analyzed and compared with foreign and ISO standards. In addition, the application progress, application problems, and solutions were investigated. Suggestions for the development and prospects of polyurethane synthetic sleepers in China were proposed by combining the requirements of domestic rail traffic with the application problems of synthetic sleepers.

With reference to internationally recognized statistical, urban rail transit is categorized into three major types, namely metro, light rail and tram. This analysis reviews the current status of urban rail transit operations worldwide. The findings show that by the end of 2024, 562 cities in 79 countries and regions around the world have opened urban rail transit systems, with a total length of more than 44,730.14 km. Subways, light rails, and streetcars each account for 51.24%, 10.43% and 38.34%, respectively. As of December 31, 2024, 65 cities in China (including Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan) have operational rail transit systems, with an operating length of 12,844.57 km, of which the operating length in Chinese mainland is 12,168.77 km. In 2023, the metros of 188 cities in 59 countries around the world transported a total of 713.78 million passengers, with an average daily load of 0.85 million trips per kilometer. In China (including Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan), metro systems carried 31.81 billion trips annually. China's urban rail transit continues to grow steadily, with the size of its network and passenger volume ranking first globally. Additionally, 233 cities in 54 countries and regions have opened suburban railways, totaling 64,195.23 km, with 21 cities in China (including Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan) operating 2,974.40 km of suburban railways. An analysis of the scale and development of rail networks in key countries suggests that the construction of suburban railways in China, as well as the interconnection of different networks, holds significant potential.

The Beijing Northeastern Ring suburban railway renovation project aims to transform the line into a public transitstyle operation, with portions of the route cooperating on shared tracks with Subway Line 19. While enhancing passenger service, the line must preserve its critical function as a connector within the main railway network. The system design requires a maximum throughput of 20 train pairs per hour. The existing Changping Station, which serves as both a turnback station for the Northeastern Ring Line and a connection point to the vehicle depot, is characterized by its large scale and operational complexity, making it the bottleneck for system capacity. This station becomes the critical factor in determining whether the system's maximum capacity requirements can be achieved. The Northeastern Ring Line adopts the CTCS2 train control system with ATO and automatic turnaround capabilities. To enhance Changping Station's capacity and meet system requirements, modifications were implemented to the existing station layout and signaling system. The station tracks, throat areas at both ends, and connections to the main line were optimized. Combined with signaling improvements and verified through traction calculations and multiscenario timetabling, Changping Station ultimately achieved a throughput capacity of 23 train pairs per hour, not only satisfying system requirements but also providing a 15% capacity margin. Through comprehensive analysis of Changping Station's capacity, the study identified that the number of arrival and departure tracks, length of station throat areas, signal configuration, and operating speeds are the primary factors limiting station capacity. The paper proposes solutions for improving station throughput capacity, providing valuable reference for future suburban railway design projects.