Wuhan Metro Driverless Lines (5, 12 & 21)
Wuhan Metro Line 5 became the first fully driverless (GoA4) metro line in central China when it opened on 26 December 2021, running automatically under normal conditions. Line 21 followed as Wuhan's first 'attended driverless' (GoA3) line, keeping crew aboard for emergencies only. The first phase of Line 12 opened 1 May 2026 as a 35.32km loop that is due to close into a 59.9km ring later in 2026 — Asia's longest metro loop line, and one some Chinese outlets call the world's longest circular line, though that claim is contested against Moscow's roughly 70km Big Circle Line depending on how each is measured; 43 of the first phase's 79 trains run GoA4, Wuhan's second fully automated line. All three lines are operated by Wuhan Metro Group.
🎓 Lesson
Automation grade differs line by line even within one operator — Wuhan runs GoA3 and GoA4 side by side depending on when and how each line was built, and the 'world's longest' claim on its newest line does not survive a check against Moscow's ring.
📖 Terms in this entry: CBTC (communications-based train control) · Grades of Automation (GoA) · Personal rapid transit (PRT)
Sources
This overview was generated with AI from the public sources listed above and checked against them before publication. It has not had a complete human fact-check — treat it as a starting point and follow the sources.
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📎 Cite this project
1001 Smart Cities (2026). “Wuhan Metro Driverless Lines (5, 12 & 21)” — Wuhan, China. The Smart City Atlas. https://1001smartcities.org/projects/wuhan-metro-driverless-lines/ (last verified 2026-08-02). Data: CC BY 4.0.
The underlying data is free to reuse with attribution — see the open data page.