The line will run from Haizhiyun to Dalian North Railway Station when fully completed.

It is a serpentine line, mostly elevated or at grade, and runs from the Dalian Railway Station to Golden Pebble Beach.

The northern area of the city, where the Economic and Technology Development Zone is located, is not well-served by buses.

The branch line begins at Dalian Development Area and stretches northwest ending at Jiuli.

Line 3's color is magenta.Line 5 runs from Houguan to Dalian railway station and then to Hutan Xinqu.

The expansion project (in accordance with Chinese standards for the design and construction of metros) will use around 70 percent local labor and materials.

When lines open, they will initially operate at 38,000 p/h/d; over time, with the addition of more trains and decreasing headway, a capacity of 43,200 p/h/d is planned.

The expansion program will ease traffic in Dalian (improving travel around the city for the 12th National Games of China, which will be held in Liaoning in 2013).

According to a National Development and Reform Foundation (2009) document, the urban rail transit construction plan (2009–2016) in Dalian was approved.

According to the plan, the Dalian transit project is expected to invest ¥22 billion from 2009 to 2016 to build lines 1-5.

The trains were developed and manufactured by DLoco, Dalian Locomotive and Rolling Stock Company.