Recently, a netizen suggested on a message board that "the extension section of Metro Line 3 should reach the core area of the Software New City."

Original suggestion:

The westward extension of Metro Line 3 would run from Yuhuazhai Station along Hualong 3rd Road or the West 3rd Ring Road to Keji 2nd Road and Tiangu 4th Road, all the way to Kunming Pool, passing Suning Plaza, the Gaoxin Children's Hospital and other locations. The route lies relatively within the core area of the Software New City and would cover a broader area and population. This is my personal suggestion; please excuse any inappropriate points!

Reply from Xi'an Rail Transit Group:

First of all, thank you for your recognition and support of our work. To support the compilation of Xi'an's territorial spatial plan, our group is carrying out professional planning research on the rail transit network. We are currently studying the feasibility of extending Line 3 westward to Kunming Pool.

The professional network planning is only the technical foundation for the special network plan. Later, the competent department of resource planning will coordinate to form a special plan, which can only become a statutory plan after being incorporated into the city's territorial spatial plan.

The westward extension of Line 3 must be based on the network plan and can only be implemented after being submitted to the National Development and Reform Commission for approval. The specific route alignment and station locations can only be finally determined after going through the relevant approval procedures.

From the reply, it can be seen that Xi'an is currently studying the feasibility of extending Line 3 westward to Kunming Pool.

In other words, Metro Line 3 is expected to be extended westward.

Previously, information circulated online about the extension direction and stations of the second phase of Xi'an Metro Line 3.

On the basis of the current line, it would extend one station northward to connect with Line 10, and two stations westward to connect with Line 12.

Looking back at earlier reports, that is, in 2017, there was news that

in the latest plan for Xi'an Metro, the second phase of Line 3 (southern extension) would extend five stations westward, with the terminus set on the southeast bank of Kunming Pool.

Now it seems there is still great hope for the westward extension, but how many stations it will extend and which lines it will connect with remain to be studied.

Xi'an Metro Line 3 is the third metro line to be completed and put into operation in Xi'an, Shaanxi Province, China. Construction of the test section started on May 11, 2011, and construction of the entire line started in August 2012. It opened for operation on November 8, 2016, and its signature color is pink.

It runs in a semi-ring direction, starting from Baoshuiqu Station in Baqiao District in the northeast, passing through Weiyang District, Xincheng District and Beilin District, and reaching Yuhuazhai Station in Yanta District in the southwest. It connects the Xi'an International Trade and Logistics Park and the Xi'an High-tech Industrial Development Zone, and is a backbone line in Xi'an's rail transit network plan.

However, Metro Line 3 does not have many stations within the high-tech zone, far fewer than the benefits it brings to the Chanba Ecological District, Xincheng District and the International Trade and Logistics Park.

The high-tech zone is vast, but the area is covered only by part of Line 3 and Line 6, which is insufficient. In particular, the western Software New City, a key development area, is not covered at all.

Therefore, it is very necessary to extend westward to the Software New City, where enterprises are concentrated, and to Fengdong, which accommodates the spillover of enterprises and homebuyers.

Metro Line 5 also has very few stations within Fengdong, mainly concentrated in the central area of Fengdong, and cannot serve the south and north. Extending Metro Line 3 westward to Kunming Pool would正好 serve residents in the southern part of Fengdong and bring them closer to the main urban area.