In operation since 2005, it serves the transportation needs of the city's main business and entertainment downtown areas and inner suburbs.

As of December 2023[update], CRT consisted of eleven lines, with a total track length of 561.18 km (349 mi).

Two lines use heavy-monorail technology, leveraging the ability to negotiate steep grades and tight curves and rapid transit capacity.

The extreme difference in elevation between the river valleys and the hilly plateaus of Chongqing pose a unique challenge in designing alignments for conventional rail transit lines.

The Chongqing Rail Transit system possesses a number of extremely-long metro-only bridges.

The 1,650 m (5,413 ft) long Egongyan Rail Transit Bridge carries the southern arc of the Loop line across the Yangtze River using a 600 m (1,969 ft) long suspension main span, making it the longest metro-only suspension bridge by main span in the world.

The line serves as the system's backbone connecting the densest areas including the main Central Business Districts of Jiefangbei, Lianglukou, Daping, and Shapingba.

In 1992, the Chongqing government signed a Build-Operate-Transfer agreement with a Hong Kong company and provided the land for the project, but work ceased in 1997 because of legal issues.

[26] Work resumed from Chaotianmen to Shapingba on 9 June 2009, and a limited opening occurred on 28 July 2011.

It begins as a subway under downtown Jiefangbei, then runs west along the southern bank of Jialing River on an elevated line, and then turns south into the southwestern inner suburbs, looping back east, to terminate at Yudong, in Ba'nan District.

Line 2 runs through four administrative districts in the central city (Yuzhong, Jiulongpo, Dadukou, and Ba'nan).

It runs from north to south and links the districts separated by the Yangtze (Chang Jiang) and the Jialing Rivers.

Opened on 28 September 2012, it connects Nan'an, Yuzhong, Jiangbei and Yubei districts in central Chongqing.

The line features the Caijia Rail Transit Bridge, the highest metro-only brige in the world, on which it crosses the Jialing River.

A 5 station, 26.2 km (16.3 mi) long northern branch from Lijia to Beibei, in the district of the same name, was opened on 31 December 2013.

The higher price is paid for transfers between the bus and the metro within 1 hour (not including metro-to-metro, according to the paying time).

All trips must be completed in 3 hours upon entering the fare-paid area, or the highest ticket price in the system will be charged in addition.

[citation needed] From 9 to 12 November 2018, they closed Grand Theater and Jiangbeicheng stations from 10:00 to 15:00 because of heavy use during Flower Expo; from 1 to 7 November 2019, they closed Grand Theater and Jiangbeicheng stations since 10:00 till 16:00 because of heavy use during Flower Expo.

[citation needed] Almost every station has accessible elevators and toilets, and almost every train has wheelchair locks.

In addition, many older interchange channels between lines are not designed with accessibility in mind, which means the disabled there must transfer via the main concourse.

[39] The trains on Line 10, which links Jiangbei Airport and Chongqing North railway station, are equipped with a luggage rack on each car.

At around 14:00 of 8 January 2019, an improperly secured air defense lock was struck by an in service Loop line train, derailing it and causing serious damage to the cabcar.

[46] Unlike most metro systems of other cities in China, CRT did not follow the design style of MTR Corporation in Hong Kong.

That gives the Chongqing Rail Transit a distinctive Japanese aesthetic, in contrast to other metro systems in China.