Dec. 24th, 2020, Qingdao Line 8 North Section (from the North JiaoZhou Station to the North Qingdao Station) entered into revenue. The line covers 11 stations, 48.3 km of track which has 7.9km cross-ocean track from the Dayang Station to the North Qingdao Station: it is the longest cross-ocean metro tunnel in China. Qingdao Line 8 could transfer with Qingdao Line One and Three at the North Qingdao Station; it also links the transportation junctions: North Qingdao Station, Hongdao Station, Jiaodong International Airport.

Qingdao Line 8 signaling system was installed according to the CAMET Transportation Protocol and Qingdao Metro Group IOP standard which will interoperate with Qingdao Line 14 in future. Qingdao Line 8 is TST first CBTC IOP project. In order to meet the CBTC IOP standard, TST CBTC IOP product team and Qingdao Line 8 project team did a lot of technology research and V&V work. In Qingdao and Shanghai IOP labs, they simulated IOP interaction & controlling scenarios to verify train control algorithm, function logics for ensuring being consistent with the IOP standard. During the project implementation period, with Qingdao Metro owners’ big support, TST team worked around the clock to undertake commissioning test in batches step by step, collecting a lot of type test data. Basing on this data, the team made extensive evaluation, analysis and verification about the system to ensure the timely project delivery with high quality.

The opening Qingdao Line 8 North Section marks a solid stride for TST in CBTC IOP signaling system implementation. Meanwhile, TST also explores a winning way for the cities where constructing several IOP lines by stages, how the opening lines get prepared for IOP with the following lines.