Vast transport network to link Disneyland

A vast public transport network is in the works to serve the expected flood of visitors to the Shanghai Disneyland, officials said yesterday.

A hub at the west gate of the amusement park will comprise five bus terminals, car and taxi parking lots, wash rooms and six lounges. The 77,492-square-meter behemoth will stretch from Xihuan Road to a large square of the Shanghai Disneyland, officials said. Some amusement facilities, shops and trees will line the hub.

The city government is inviting tenders for the construction of the hub that is budgeted at 182 million yuan (US$22.54 million). The project should be completed within a year.

Metro Line 11 will also be extended from Luoshan Road Station to Disneyland with stops at Kangqiao Road E. Station and Hengxin Road Station.

The extended 9.2-kilometer Disney section will use six-car trains with maximum speed of 100 kilometers per hour. Ten such trains will initially operate on the line. About 7.7km will be over land while the final stretch will be underground. Passengers can enter the park through an underground passage.

The Disneyland Station itself will be an added attraction with artificial lake and covered with tress and shrubs and good use of natural light.

Two broad slopes will be built on both sides of the stations for wheelchair-bound visitors. The size and decorations will be designed keeping children in mind.

Road construction is already underway outside the amusement park that will connect to the Middle Ring Road in the Pudong New Area. The new elevated highway, costing more than 10 billion yuan (US$1.62 billion), is being built between the Jungong Road Tunnel and Gaoke Road M. It will be completed in 2015, just in time for the opening of the park. An upgrade of the super capacitor buses that were used at the World Expo 2010 Shanghai may be used to shuttle visitors.

Shanghai Disneyland, Disney's first theme park on China's mainland, is expected to attract 7.3 million visitors a year when it opens in 2015.

It has recruited more than 300 Chinese professionals ahead of the opening, with at least 5,000 more to join when it opens in two years time.

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