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Harbin is situated in the northeast of China, in Heilongjiang province, with some 5 million inhabitants.

Line 1 is 26.1 km, all underground.

26 Sept 2013: Hadongzhan (Eastern Railway Station) - Hananzhan (South Station) (17.5 km)
26 Sept 2014: + Bowuguan (Museum) station
10 April 2019: Hananzhan (South Station) - Xinjiang Street (8.6 km)
28 Sept 2019: + Wapenyao station

28.7 km north to east line

19 Sept 2021: Jiangbei University Town - Meteorological Observatory (28.7 km)

Future 37.6 km circular line

26 Jan 2017: Yidaeryuan - Harbinxizhan (4 km)
16 Jun 2017: Harbindajie station added
26 Nov 2021: Harbin West Railway Station (6 km) – Sports Park & Second Affiliated Hospital of HMU – Taipingqiao (16.1 km)
29 Sept 2023:Taipingqiao – Chinese-baroque Block (3.3 km)
26 Dec 2023: Chinese-baroque Block – Beima Road

Harbin Metro (Official Website)

Harbin Metro at Wikipedia

In June 2016, Craig Moore reports from Harbin:

Unlike most large Chinese cities, Harbin is not famed for its long history. Essentially a late 19th Century settlement, it expanded as a rail head and administrative centre for the Trans Siberian/Manchurian Railway. This rail legacy now includes a Metro - a single, fully underground line of 17.5km, with 18 stations. Opened in 2013 it was constructed at a time when there was a rich bounty of Metros being built in the PRC - between 2012 and 2014 eight new Metros opened – with most based on a reasonably uniform design blueprint. Interestingly, Harbin is different within this group in two ways. Firstly it is, apart from Zhengzhou, the only one of the group not to have expanded since inauguration and, secondly, it has a very unique feel – not following the design blueprint in most respects.

The line runs from the northeast of the city to the south, with the main stations being Bowuguan and Tieluju. The current alignment ignores many of the main trip-generating points in the city. Clearly this will change as the system grows, but at the moment, several major areas of the centre are not served. This might be one of the reasons that the line is not massively crowded.

One of the most obvious differences in the Harbin system is its ornate fixtures. The stations have faux wrought iron street entrances which are modern and stylish in shape. There is no totem, and the logo, which sits atop the entrance portal is also in the faux style and difficult to identify in the overall structure. This is quite a deep line in some parts and two sets of escalators are required to reach the ticket hall, which is the one part of the system that has adopted the basic Chinese design model. Security screening, banks of automated ticket machines, and two rows of ticket barriers at either end of the hall, punctured by a customer service office. Tickets are dispensed in the form of RFID plastic cards which are scanned on entry and slotted on exit. Fares are distance-based and currently range from 2 to 5 Yuan (€0.25-€0.63). The ticket has a small schematic map of the current line and this is the only place you will find the map! There is no hard-copy information available and there is only a simple vertical strip map at the entrance to the stairway leading to the platform area. Map provision is quite poor. Moreover, whilst general signage is adequate, it is not obvious and for a new user you have to actively seek the information. This is unusual for China, where navigational signs tend to ‘come to you’ because of their sheer volume. At each end of the entrance hall there are a set of escalators at either side of a central stair. These access points are laced with faux wrought iron fences and the walls have ornate little laps.

The platforms have limited information- a strip map above the doors on the full platform screens and a small station vicinity map. The platforms have small amounts of seating and also have TV screens at right angles to the platform screens which provide next-train information in Chinese only. There is audio information in Chinese and English but it is very difficult to hear. The platform areas are clad in large tiles which are a mix of white and deep, rich tones ranging from mustard to rust to burnt orange. They look very smart, clean and modern and when juxtaposed with the ornate, historic looking trimmings, such as small wall laps, located on the platforms and entrances, you get a very different and pleasant environment. Most of the stations have quite deep side platforms (Bowuguan in staggered) although there are a couple of stations with island platforms (e.g. Hexinglu) outside the central area. In general everything is well kept and the platform areas are very nice indeed. One other thing of note is that the system doesn’t appear to be overrun by staff, as can often be the case in China, and the staff are very friendly and helpful.

Services run from 0600-2130 and the base headway is 8 mins. The stock was built by CNR and it is very different from most stock of that era. The trains are made up of six-car sets, the front being quite a flat structure and the solid white sides are interrupted by pale orange doors and an occasional abstract snowflake arrangement made of different sized dots (also in orange). The interior is very smart. Again, predominantly white, with deep orange side seating and each carriage end having a red/purple colour scheme, with the dot arrangement replicated in orange. It looks very smart indeed - as it is a through train one can see the carriage divisions very clearly due to the stark colour contrasts. There is a small TV which explains next station in Chinese only but, as on the platform, there are Mandarin and English announcements. The strip map above the door is in English and is electric with mini dots being illuminated as the train progresses on its journey. For some reason, this map has a kink in the line and is not a simple, straight progression. As for the 34min journey between terminals – well, it is smooth and quite speedy and dwell times are sensible.