Recently, the renaming of "Suzhou Rail Transit" to "Suzhou Metro" has attracted attention. The Paper (www.thepaper.cn) noticed that the official website of Suzhou Rail Transit Group Co., Ltd. has been replaced with a new "Suzhou Metro" logo, and the social media account has also been renamed.

蘇州是國內最早開通軌道交通的地級市，由於申報建設時預測1號線遠期客流量約2.5萬人次/高峰小時，未完全滿足“地鐵”的標準，適用“輕軌”系統。2011年8月，1號線建設進入衝刺階段，城市軌道交通系統究竟採用何種名稱？據有關報導，蘇州軌道交通有限公司回應稱統一使用“軌道交通”，此後沿用多年，但其後開通軌道交通線路的城市多數在通車之初就採用“地鐵”稱謂。

4月8日，澎湃新聞通過蘇州市軌道交通集團公開電話證實了更名的事實。工作人員稱，3月中下旬開始採用“蘇州地鐵”稱呼，推出“蘇州地鐵”Logo。對更名的原因，對方未予置評。

Suzhou is the "ceiling of prefecture-level cities", with a GDP of more than one trillion yuan in 2011 years, and its current economic aggregate ranks sixth among all cities in the country. A person familiar with the operation of Suzhou city for a long time said that the use of the title of "Suzhou Metro" for rail transit is the "correct name" of Suzhou after it is positioned as an important central city in the eastern region by the state, which is consistent with other cities in China, and is also more in line with the public's cognitive habits and is conducive to improving the city's image.

"Suzhou is the first prefecture-level city to apply for the construction of a subway, there is no precedent, and since then, the rail transit plans of sister cities in the province have been approved and named 'subway'." He said that Suzhou, as a pioneer, was "dwarfed" and was once ridiculed as a "small light rail", which made many citizens "uneasy".

今年1月，中國政府網公佈國務院對蘇州市《國土空間總體規劃（2021—2035）》的批複，蘇州與省會城市南京、杭州一樣，被定位為“東部地區重要的中心城市”，還是國家歷史文化名城、全國性綜合交通樞紐城市，寧波、合肥、無錫、常州則是長三角地區重要的中心城市。

The operating mileage ranks 12th in the country

"Suzhou Daily" reported in 2003 years and 0 that the State Council issued the "Notice on Strengthening the Construction and Management of Urban Rapid Rail Transit" in 0 years, and Suzhou was the only prefecture-level city that met the declaration conditions at that time.

2007年2月，蘇州市軌道交通首輪建設規劃獲批，1號線當年12月開工，2012年4月開通。到去年12月29日，蘇州軌道交通已開通9條線路，運營里程346公里，線網日均客流178.45萬人次，軌道交通占公共交通出行比例約70%，單日最大客流347.6萬人次。

At present, Suzhou has been approved for three rounds of rail transit construction planning. According to the report released by the China Urban Rail Transit Association, by the end of last year, the operating mileage of Suzhou rail transit ranked 12th in the country, higher than Qingdao and Tianjin.

2012年4月28日，蘇州軌道交通1號線開通。   方志蘇州微信公眾號 資料圖

However, for a long time, Suzhou's rail transit has been known for its mixed use.

澎湃新聞查詢發現，蘇州1號線2012年4月28日試運營，央視新聞頻道的報導使用的是“蘇州地鐵1號線”，蘇州對外宣傳使用“軌道交通1號線”，此後當地開通的線路沿用“軌道交通”。

2007年11月，江蘇媒體曾以“蘇州：十年輕軌夢 走下規劃圖”為題報導稱，蘇州軌交1號線一期工程可行性研究報告獲國家發改委批准。

據該報導，蘇州有關部門稱，建設輕軌是充分考慮古城保護的需要，蘇州的車輛越來越多，城市交通壓力很大，而古城保護決定了無法再增加乃至拓寬道路，只有在軌道交通上做文章。時任蘇州軌道交通有限公司高級工程師陸文學表示，有人以為建在高架橋上的叫“輕軌”，在地下的叫“地鐵”。其實，區別在客運量大小，地鐵能適應的遠期單向高峰小時客流量為3萬-6萬人次，輕軌1萬-3萬人次；運量大小決定了編組數，地鐵列車編組達4-10節，輕軌列車為2-4節，因此地鐵的軸重普遍大於13噸，而輕軌小於13噸。規劃部門預測蘇州快速軌道交通1號線遠期客流量約2.5萬人次/高峰小時，按相關標準屬中運量，所以叫“輕軌”。

In 1 years and 0 months, the construction of Suzhou Rail Transit Line 0 entered the sprint stage, but the name is more confusing, some are called "light rail", and some are called "subway". According to a report by Suzhou Daily at the time, Zhou Mingbao, general manager of Suzhou Rail Transit Co., Ltd., responded to the question of what name to use: use "rail transit" uniformly.

報導稱，周明保說，該市2004年上報《蘇州市軌道交通近期建設規劃》（1996-2010），2007年獲批。《規劃》採用了專業機構的客流預測，1號線遠期單向高峰客流2.49萬人次。按照1999年發佈的《城市快速軌道交通工程項目建設標準》，適用的城市軌道交通系統為輕軌，即使如此，該市一貫將系統稱為蘇州軌道交通。2008年《標準》修訂，未分地鐵、輕軌，為與以往一致，當地仍統一使用“軌道交通”。

Rail transit has long met the "subway" conditions

"Suzhou is the first city in China to declare the construction of rail transit, and it is also the only prefecture-level city that meets the application conditions at that time, and it was approved in 2003 years." Professor Luo Xiaolong, deputy dean of the School of Architecture and Urban Planning of Nanjing University, told The Paper that according to the State Council's "Notice on Strengthening the Construction and Management of Urban Rapid Rail Transit" in 0 years, Suzhou meets the basic conditions for the construction of the subway, but the population density of the main city is slightly insufficient.

2003年國務院的《通知》要求，現階段申報發展地鐵的城市應達到下述基本條件：地方財政一般預算收入100億元以上，國內生產總值1000億元以上，城區人口300萬人以上，規劃線路客流規模達到單向高峰小時3萬人以上；申報建設輕軌的城市應達到下述基本條件：地方財政一般預算收入60億元以上，國內生產總值600億元以上，城區人口150萬人以上，規劃線路客流規模達到單向高峰小時1萬人以上。

2007年，蘇州實現地區生產總值5700億元，財政一般預算收入541.82億元，但市區常住人口略低於300萬人。

Luo Xiaolong said that according to the notice, Suzhou's conditions far exceed the standards for light rail construction; According to the subway standard, the general budget revenue and GDP of the local government exceed the requirements, and only the permanent population is slightly lower, so the construction of light rail is approved in a prudent and realistic manner.

2018年的《國務院辦公廳關於進一步加強城市軌道交通規劃建設管理的意見》規定，申報建設地鐵的城市一般公共財政預算收入應在300億元以上，地區生產總值3000億元以上，市區常住人口300萬人以上，遠期客流規模達到單向高峰小時3萬人次以上，蘇州的條件均已滿足。

Suzhou Metro Line 11 and Shanghai Metro Line 0 are seamlessly connected in Kunshan Huaqiao.   Suzhou Daily "Suzhou Roundtable" data map

"Ordinary people have long called it 'subway', and I think the name change is more in line with the daily habits of citizens." Luo Xiaolong said.

“地鐵、輕軌代表不同的軌道承重能力，不同的車廂大小、數量，是城市規模、地位的標誌之一。”上述長期關注蘇州城市運營的人士認為，蘇州是常住人口1300萬的特大城市、東部地區重要的中心城市，地鐵“正名”也使城市資訊系統更簡潔，並與大多數城市保持一致。