Kunming Metro, or Kunming Rail Transit, is a rapid transit system in Kunming, the capital of Yunnan Province. With a rapidly growing population of just over 3 million people at the time (And over 5 million people living in the built-up urban area as of 2024), Kunming was one of the largest cities in China without a metro system before its construction.^{[citation needed]} The system currently consists of 6 lines with 2 extensions to existing lines under construction and 5 more lines planned.

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Kunming Metro
Overview
Native name	昆明地铁
Owner	Kunming Rail Transit Group
Locale	Kunming, Yunnan, China
Transit type	Rapid transit
Number of lines	6 (Operational)
Line number	1   2   3   4   5   6
Number of stations	115
Daily ridership	798,100 (2021 daily avg.)[1]
Annual ridership	222 million (2021)[1]
Operation
Began operation	28 June 2012; 11 years ago (2012-06-28)
Operator(s)	Kunming Rail Transit Group
Headway	5 minutes (Lines 1/2) 8 minutes (All others)
Technical
System length	164.3 km (102.1 mi)
Track gauge	Standard gauge
Average speed	80 km/h (50 mph)
Top speed	120 km/h (75 mph)
Kunming Metro Map

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The streets of Kunming have long been congested, and as such there have been talks of a subway system since the late 1990s. A 2006 proposal would have seen construction start in 2008 with a north-south line and an east-west line. The current rapid transit system was first announced in 2009, with construction scheduled to start later that year. The proposed routes would not only serve commuters in Kunming city centre, but would help encourage development to the city's southeast. The suburb of Chenggong has been the site of a recent construction boom, although most new developments were still unoccupied without adequate transit connections. Thus, the Kunming Metro served the dual purpose of alleviating traffic problems in the city's core and encouraging growth in the southeast.^{[citation needed]}

Construction on Lines 1 and 2 officially began in May 2010, after months of delays.^[2] An elevated test section had been under construction since 2009. Lines 1 (34 km) and 2 (22 km) were scheduled to open in 2012, but with delays, weren't opened until early 2013. Construction on Line 3 began in August 2010 and was opened on 29 August 2017.^[3]

Construction of Line 1 was expected to cost as much as 32 billion yuan (US$4.5 billion), with each kilometer of elevated metro costing around 250 million yuan and each kilometer of underground subway expected to cost between 400 million and 800 million yuan. The primary contractor is China Railway Construction Corporation (CRCC).

The trains of Line 6 were manufactured by China South Locomotive & Rolling Stock Corporation Ltd (CSR) in Zhuzhou.^[4] 6-car sets operate at 120 km/h. CSR met journalists in October 2011 to discuss the safety concerns arising from operating trains at such speeds.^[5] Changes have been made to the rolling stock over time. Line 3 trains feature a digital route map with a basic UI. Line 4 trains have darker flooring, a new TV interface, and a completely remade route map UI. Line 5 trains reverted the flooring color back to white, remade the TV interface again, modified the route map UI, and feature projectors on the sides of the train that project advertisements onto the tunnel walls.^{[citation needed]}

• List of rapid transit systems