![]() Infrastructure of the Chinese capital’s rapid transit systemīeijing Subway uses a 1,435mm gauge with 750V dc third rail electrification with surface and underground running. The network reached its 456km stretch by May 2013. Line 14 is operated by MTR Corporation.Ī total of 17 lines (Lines 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 13, 14, 15, Batong, Changping, Daxing, Fangshan, Yizhuang and Airport Express), 227 stations and 456km of track in the Beijing Subway network were operational by 2013. Phase I of Line 14, connecting the Zhangguozhuang in the South West of the city to Xiju on the Western part of Line 10, was opened in May 2013. ![]() The construction of phases I and II of Line 14 started in April 2010. The Line 8 phase II North Extension, South Section and Line 6 phase I opened for public service in December 2012. The construction of Line 9 North Section and Line 10 phase II began in April 2007 and completed in October 2012. Work on the Yizhuang Line (Line L2), which extends 23km (14.3 miles) from the southern terminus of Line 5, began on 8 December 2007, becoming operational in December 2010.Ĭonstruction of the North Section under phase II of Line 8, South Section of Line 9, Section 2 under phase I of Line 15, and Fangshan Line began in December 2007, April 2007 and April 2009 respectively. Line 15, Changping, Fangshan and Daxing, became operational in December 2010. It is 28.2km in length and connects 24 stations. Line 4 runs from north to south parallel to Line 5. On 28 September 2009, Line 4 of the subway became operational. The third 2008 opening was the free-standing premium-priced 28km (17.4 mile) Airport Express. Line 10, which opened in 2008, has been substantially extended by an additional 32.5km stretch to create an outer loop. On the Subway, Line 10 at 25km (15.5 miles), plus the 4.5km spur to the principal site and the ‘Olympic Line’ (during the Games reserved for competitors, officials and event ticket holders). In the Olympic year itself, three new urban lines with 30 additional stations costing $3.2bn opened. The 27.6km Line 5 was the first on the network on a north-south axis and was opened in 2007. A key link from central Beijing to Olympic venues in the north of the city opened in October 2007. Prior to the start of preparing for the Olympics, Beijing Subway had expanded to four lines with 1.5 million daily passenger journeys. The ¥4tr ($45.2bn) economic package released by the Chinese Government also boosted the construction of the project. The apparent success of these measures, plus the Games-related increase in public transport capacity, appears to have strengthened the case for maintaining the commitment to rail expansion, even if has not been well received by the growing car-owning classes.īeijing city authorities also support rail expansion to cut the currently long travel-to-work times and as a stimulus for businesses to disperse from the centre to new sites in the suburbs.įunding for system expansion is thought to be 40% from municipal authority budgets approximating to $1.5bn annually, the remainder coming from commercial loans. The problems of pollution from industry and traffic were well documented prior to the Olympics, prompting extreme official measures to reduce risk levels. In 2004 the China Academy of Railway Sciences identified that Beijing scored very low (4.7%) in terms of the percentage of urban journeys being made by rapid transit, well below the levels of Hong Kong, Moscow (both 55%) or Paris (66%).Įven in Tokyo, where car ownership was high compared to Beijing, the quality and coverage of public transport in the Japanese capital meant urban rail systems enjoyed high patronage by commuters. This includes car registrations which are increasing by more than 15% each year, contrasting with road space being increased by 3% annually. With more than 7.5 million people in the city proper and estimates of at least 17 million present in the conurbation, Beijing is undergoing rapid growth. “Currently exceeded in length by the metro in Shanghai, China’s largest city and premier cultural and economic force, the Beijing Subway is an evolving project that will make it the longest in the country.”
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