Beijing puts in RMB 40 billion yuan for expansion of rail traffic

Huilongguan Station West along light rail in Beijing

So far the total rail traffic under construction in Beijing extends 88 kilometers with a total investment of RMB 40 billion yuan, witnessing 34 stations underway for construction and an investment of 4 billion yuan has been fulfilled in 2004.

According to the news of 9 January from Beijing, the examination and checkup for the framework of the Beixinqiao subway station along No.5 subway has been passed and accepted the other day. This is a subway station along the line with its construction in full swing and the framework of it has so far passed the examination and checkup, a miniature to indicate that Beijing is stepping up its efforts for rail traffic construction.

Ever since the beginning of the new millennium Beijing has been further stepping up its rail traffic construction for a gradual improvement of the rail traffic network, in which the stress has been laid on the construction of a traffic network with public transportation as main-body and speedy rail traffic as backbone so as to form an integrated urban traffic system catering to the development of a modernized city.

The data provided by the Beijing Construction Committee shows, at present, Nos. 4, 5 and 10 subways now underway for construction cover a total distance of 88 kilometers with an investment totaling 40 billion yuan, witnessing 34 stations underway for construction and an investment of 4 billion yuan has been achieved in the years of 2004.

Construction of the first subway started in 1965

On 28 January 2003, No.13 line in the planned network of the fast rail traffic in Beijing was put through all along the way, covering a total distance of 40.85 kilometers. The urban rail traffic runs through the Western City, Haidian, Changping, Chaoyang, and Eastern City, the five districts of Beijing, passing by Zhongguancun Science Park and several institutions of the CAS, and the famous Peking and Tsinghua universities and it has also linked up Qinghe and Huilongguan residential quarters in the peripheral areas. Therefore, it is a speedy rail traffic line of importance that link up the north and northeast city of Beijing.

On 27 December of the same year, the Bawangfen/Tongzhou line as an extension of No.1 Subway to the east was fully and officially opened to the public, covering a distance of 19 kilometers. Joining the No.1 Subway it has come to form a long and dragon-like rail traffic running through the east to the west of the capital city, thereby offering a lot of convenience to the people for their in and out along the line. And by then, the rail traffic in operation covered a total distance of 114 kilometers, witnessing a daily passenger flow of over 1.3 million person/times.

Construction of No.5 Subway running through north and south of the city put underway in 2002

Another north-south rail traffic is No. 4 subway, which is now in construction all along the line. Starting from Majialou station in Fengtai District, No.4 Subway goes through Xidan, Xizhimen, and the business area of Zhongguancun to end at the north gate of the Summer Palace, covering a total distance of 28.16 kilometers. For the moment, the four stations of Caishikou, Xuanwumen, Xisi and Beijing Zoo along the line have been brought underway for construction with 942 million yuan in investment fulfilled and 20 percent of earthwork engineering completed in 2004. The Nos.5 and 4 subways run though the north and south of the city and the downtown areas as well. When coming to completion they will be able to take away quite a number of passengers from traveling overland to underground, thereby helping greatly the improvement of the urban traffic and for a good protection of the historical features of the ancient city, and bringing about a prominent effect for updating the images for the city of Beijing.

No.10 Subway to meet the needs of the traffic in Olympic games areas

In the meantime, No.10 Subway now under construction running from west to east between the 3rd and the 4th ring-roads in the north, passes the whole downtown zones in the north of Beijing, which begins to turn south in the northeast corner to run through the CBD area in the east, covering a distance totaling 32.90 kilometers. The Subway Feeder-line for the Olympic games crisscrossing at the Panda Round Islet with No.10 Subway goes through the north 4th Ring road, the Olympic games center and the Olympic Park to end at the Olympic Forest Park stretches a full distance of 5.91 kilometers. Up to the present moment the underground digging for Nos.10 & 9 subways has already been kicked off with all 17 shafts for the fieldwork completed and now is engaged in the construction of main-body structure for subway stations. In this regard the year of 2004 fulfilled an investment of 1.044 billion yuan with 20 percent of the total earthwork completed. No.10 Subway together with the feeder line of Subway for Olympic games will come to form a traffic artery to run through the northern and eastern as well as southern and northern parts of Beijing, able to meet the traffic needs to a great extent during the Olympic games.

By the year of 2008, a rail traffic framework arranged in a relatively scientific way will by and large be formed in Beijing to cover at large the major areas for business, tourism and the residential quarters in Beijing.

Sketch map for rail traffic in operation & under construction in Beijing city proper

By People's Daily Online