Urban rail transit in the People's Republic of China encompasses a broad range of urban and suburban electric passenger rail mass transit systems including subway, light rail, tram and even maglev. Some classifications also include non-rail bus rapid transport. Several Chinese cities had urban electric tramways in the early 20th century, which were dismantled in the 1950s. Nanjing had an urban railway from 1907 to 1958. Today China boasts both the world's longest and second longest metro systems. Out of the top 10 busiest metro systems in the world 4 of them are in China. The first subway in China was built in Beijing in 1969. The Tianjin Metro followed in 1984. Since 2000, the growth of rapid transit systems in Chinese cities has accelerated. The Shanghai Metro despite being the world's second longest only started operating in 1995. From 2009 to 2015, China plans to build 87 mass transit rail lines, totaling 2,495 km, in 25 cities at the cost of ¥988.6 billion. If current trends continue towards 2050, Chinese cities will have 11,700 km of metro lines, accounting for at least half the world's metro length. Of the new metro systems to be built between now and 2015, 16% will be in the Pearl River Delta, 25% in the Yangtze River Delta and 24% in the Bohai region. As of 2012, China averages 270 km of new rapid transit mileage per year. Hong Kong’s MTR was developed autonomously by the Hong Kong S.A.R. Government. The MTR now has investment and management stakes in the rapid transit systems of several mainland Chinese cities.
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