World’s deepest subway station plunges 40 STOREYS beneath city & goes so far underground it makes passengers’ ears
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THE world’s deepest subway is buried so far underground that it makes passengers’ ears pop from the change in pressure - and you have to descend eight escalators to reach it. Hongyancun Station in Chongqing, central China, sits a staggering 116m below the surface - which is equivalent to heading down 40 storeys.
![[Hongyancun subway station entrance in Chongqing, China.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/07baf4df-6912-4687-85e3-e72c4923364b.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
Ear-popping is usually reserved for steep descents in aeroplanes, but the sheer distance one must travel underground to reach the platform in Chongqing means the phenomenon is recreated. The effect is more noticeable to passengers who opt to whizz down through the earth in the elevator than those navigating the eight escalators.
![[Hongyancun subway station platform with bronze relief.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/commons-wikimedia-org-w-index-963488963.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
This is because a more gradual descent gives the ears more time to equalise the pressure, so the “popping” sensation is not so severe. Most escalator journeys are under 10 seconds, but it takes almost a minute to plummet down the 116m to the station level - 53 seconds to be precise.
![[Aerial view of a gorge valley with karst limestone formations in Wulong National Park, China.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/panorama-gorge-valley-karst-limestone-963495194.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
When the station was being constructed, it took workers 38 minutes to climb the stairs up from the station to the surface - and was likened to climbing a mountain each day. The station can be found in the Yuzhong District of the Chongqing municipality - an area famed for its undulating hills and winding roads.
It was this extremely hilly landscape that led to the creation of such a deep station. Despite being such a long way underground, the station is not dark and damp as you might expect. That’s because it opened very recently, so it has benefitted from all the wonders of modern construction methods.
![[Hongyancun subway station train doors with signage.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/commons-wikimedia-org-w-index-963488794.jpg?strip=all&w=675)
