The Jinan municipal ecology and environment bureau recently released construction plans for the city's first tram line.

The tram line will have a total length of 35.5 kilometers and will travel from Jinan East Station to Jiyang district. It will have 16 stations throughout the Jinan Innovation Zone, Licheng district, Jiyang district, and the Jinan Pioneer Zone.

The line will also be the first to cross the Yellow River in Shandong province.

The project will cost a total of 6.65 billion yuan ($1.01 billion), and the average cost per kilometer will be 198 million yuan, less than the cost of a metro line.

The tram line is expected to begin operating in May 2022.

Jinan plans to build a total of six tram lines, including lines from Laiwu district to Gangcheng district, Changqing district to Pingyin county, and Jiyang district to Shanghe county, in an effort to better connect urban and rural areas.