Beijing Subway
Encyclopedia
The Beijing Subway is a rapid transit
rail network that serves the urban and suburban districts of Beijing
municipality
. It is owned by the city of Beijing and has two operators, the wholly state owned Beijing Mass Transit Railway Operation Corp.
, which operates 12 lines, and the Beijing MTR Corp., a public-private joint-venture with the Hong Kong MTR
, which manages 2 lines.
The subway's first line opened in 1969, and the network now has 14 lines, 172 stations and 336 km (208.8 mi) of track
in operation. It is the oldest subway in mainland China
, and the second in length after the Shanghai Metro
. Among the world's metro systems, the Beijing Subway ranks fourth in track length after the metros of Shanghai, London
and New York
, and fifth in annual ridership
after those of Tokyo
, Moscow, Seoul
, and Shanghai.
In 2010, the Beijing Subway delivered over 1.8 billion rides, and on September 9, 2011, set a single-day record of 7.57 million. All but two of Beijing Subway's 14 lines were built within the past decade. On December 30, 2010, five lines, Line 15
, Changping
, Fangshan
, Yizhuang
and Daxing
, entered into operation. Despite this rapid expansion, the existing network cannot adequately meet the city's mass transit needs and extensive expansion plans call for 19 lines and over 660 km (410.1 mi) of track in operation by 2015 and 1000 km (621.4 mi) by 2020. The Chinese government's ¥4 trillion economic stimulus package
has accelerated subway construction. The network is set to reach 420 km (261 mi) by 2012.
2.00 with unlimited transfers applies to all lines except the Airport Express
, which costs ¥25 Children below 1.2 metres (47.2 in) in height ride for free when accompanied by a paying adult.
All lines now collect fares through automatic fare collection (AFC) machines that accept single-ride tickets and the One Card Through Card or Yikatong, an integrated circuit card (ICC card) that can store credit for multiple rides. Riders can purchase tickets and add credit to Yikatong at ticket counters and vending machines in every station. Yikatong is also accepted on many city buses, and can be used as e-money for other purchases.
The use of tickets hand checked by clerks was phased out, ending on June 9, 2008. Before the flat fare was introduced on October 7, 2007, fares ranged from ¥3 to ¥7, depending on the line and number of transfers.
}
| style="text-align:center;"| Anheqiao North
(Haidian)
| style="text-align:center;"| Gongyixiqiao
(Fengtai
)
| style="text-align:center;"|2009
| style="text-align:center;"|2010
| style="text-align:center;"|28.2
| style="text-align:center;"|24 (1)
| 1
, 2
, 10
, 13
, Daxing
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|
| style="text-align:center;"| Tiantongyuan North
(Changping
)
| style="text-align:center;"| Songjiazhuang
(Fengtai
)
| style="text-align:center;"|2007
| style="text-align:center;"|—
| style="text-align:center;"|27.6
| style="text-align:center;"|23 (7)
| style="text-align:center;"|1
, 2
, 10
, 13
, Yizhuang
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|
| style="text-align:center;"| Beitucheng
(Chaoyang
)
| style="text-align:center;"| South Gate of Forest Park
(Chaoyang
)
| style="text-align:center;"|2008
| —
| style="text-align:center;"|4.5
| style="text-align:center;"|4
| style="text-align:center;"|10
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|
| style="text-align:center;"| Bagou
(Haidian)
| style="text-align:center;"| Jinsong
(Chaoyang
)
| style="text-align:center;"|2008
| style="text-align:center;"|—
| style="text-align:center;"|24.7
| style="text-align:center;"|22
| style="text-align:center;"|1
, 4
, 5
, 8
, 13
, Airport
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|
| style="text-align:center;"| Xizhimen
(Xicheng
)
| style="text-align:center;"| Dongzhimen
(Dongcheng
)
| style="text-align:center;"|2002
| style="text-align:center;"|2003
| style="text-align:center;"|40.9
| style="text-align:center;"|16 (15)
| style="text-align:center;"|2
, 4
, 5
, 10
, 15
, Changping
, Airport
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|
| style="text-align:center;"| Wangjing West
(Chaoyang
)
| style="text-align:center;"| Houshayu
(Shunyi
)
| style="text-align:center;"|2010
| style="text-align:center;"|—
| style="text-align:center;"|20.2
| style="text-align:center;"|9 (4)
| style="text-align:center;"|13
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|
| style="text-align:center;"| Sihui
(Chaoyang
)
| style="text-align:center;"| Tuqiao
(Tongzhou
)
| style="text-align:center;"|2003
| style="text-align:center;"|—
| style="text-align:center;"|18.9
| style="text-align:center;"|13 (13)
| style="text-align:center;"|1
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|
| style="text-align:center;"| Xi'erqi
(Haidian)
| style="text-align:center;"| Nanshao
(Changping
)
| style="text-align:center;"|2010
| style="text-align:center;"|—
| style="text-align:center;"|21.24
| style="text-align:center;"|7 (6)
| style="text-align:center;"|13
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|
| style="text-align:center;"| Gongyixiqiao
(Fengtai
)
| style="text-align:center;"| Tiangongyuan
(Daxing
)
| style="text-align:center;"|2010
| —
| style="text-align:center;"|21.7
| style="text-align:center;"|11 (1)
| style="text-align:center;"|4
, Fangshan
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|
| style="text-align:center;"| Suzhuang
(Fangshan
)
| style="text-align:center;"| Dabaotai
(Fengtai
)
| style="text-align:center;"|2010
| style="text-align:center;"|—
| style="text-align:center;"|24.7
| style="text-align:center;"|10 (9)
| style="text-align:center;"|Daxing
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|
| style="text-align:center;"| Songjiazhuang
(Fengtai
)
| style="text-align:center;"| Yizhuang Railway Station
(Tongzhou
)
| style="text-align:center;"|2010
| style="text-align:center;"|—
| style="text-align:center;"|23.3
| style="text-align:center;"|14 (8)
| style="text-align:center;"|5
|-
| style="text-align:center;" rowspan=2|
| style="text-align:center;" rowspan=2|Dongzhimen
(Dongcheng
)
| style="text-align:center;"| Terminal 2 (Chaoyang
)
| style="text-align:center;" rowspan=2|2008
| style="text-align:center;" rowspan=2|—
| style="text-align:center;" rowspan=2|28.1
| style="text-align:center;" rowspan=2|4 (1)
| style="text-align:center;" rowspan=2|2
, 10
, 13
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| Terminal 3 (Shunyi
)
|- style = "background:#606060; height: 2pt"
| colspan = "9" |
|}
Beijing's subway lines generally follow the checkerboard layout of the city. Most lines run parallel or perpendicular to each other and intersect at right angles.
Lines serving the urban core:
Lines to outlying suburbs:
The new lines will significantly expand the subway's coverage, especially south and west of the city. Line 9
and Line 16
will run parallel and to the west of Line 4. Flanking either side of Line 1 will be Line 6
and Line 7
. Line 10, when fully completed, will form a second ring outside the Line 2 loop. Line 8
will extend the Olympic Branch Line north to Line 13 and south to Line 2. Line 14
will run from the southwest to the northeast. The Western Suburban
and Yanfang Line
s will connect outlying districts to the Beijing Subway.
.
, 3, 12
, 16
, the Yanfang Line, as well as additional lines to Changping, Tiantongyuan
, and Haidian will begin construction before 2015. Subway planning authorities had indicated that Lines 3, 11, 12 and 16 were being planned for the more distant future.
In January 2010, the government of Shijingshan District
disclosed plans for a Line 11 in western Beijing that would traverse the Beijing Capital Steel
complex and intersect with Lines 1 and 4. Construction is set to begin in 2020. Line 17 is planned to run underneath Guanghua Road in the Central Business District with transfers to Lines 4 and 5.
is a mass transit rail system that complements the subway and provides commuter train service to outlying suburban districts and counties. Six "S"-numbered lines have been planned. The Beijing Suburban Railway is managed separately from the subway and has a different fare structure. Line S2, opened August 6, 2008, runs from the Beijing North Railway Station
to Yanqing County
, and provides direct urban rail access to the Great Wall at Badaling
. The Beijing North Station is located near the subway stop at Xizhimen (Subway Lines 2, 4, 13)
. Line S1 will channel riders from Mentougou District
west of the city to Pingguoyuan
and Wulu, the western terminus of Line 1
and Line 6
.
. After the end of the Korean War
, Chinese leaders turned their attention to domestic reconstruction. They were keen to expand Beijing's mass transit capacity but also valued the subway as an asset for civil defense. They studied the use of the Moscow Metro
to protect civilians, move troops and headquarter military command posts during the Battle of Moscow
, and planned the Beijing Subway for both civilian and military use.
The Chinese lacked expertise in building subways and drew heavily on Soviet and East German technical assistance. In 1954, a delegation of Soviet engineers, including some who had built the Moscow Metro, was invited to plan the subway in Beijing. From 1953 to 1960, several thousand Chinese students were sent to the Soviet Union to study subway construction. An early plan unveiled in 1957 called for one ring route and six other lines with a total of 114 stations and 172 km (106.9 mi) of tracks. Two routes vied for the first to be built. One ran east-west from Wukesong to Hongmiao, underneath Changan Avenue. The other ran north-south from the Summer Palace to Zhongshan Park
, via Xizhimen and Xisi. The former was chosen due to more favorable geological foundation and greater number of government bureaus served. The second route would not be built until construction on Line 4 began forty years later.
The deterioration of relations between China and Soviet Union
disrupted subway planning. Soviet experts began to leave in 1960, and were completely withdrawn by 1963. In 1961, the entire project was halted temporarily due to severe hardships caused by the Great Leap Forward
. Eventually, planning work resumed. The route of the initial line was shifted westward to create an underground conduit to move personnel from the heart of the capital to the Western Hills. On February 4, 1965, Chairman Mao Zedong
personally approved the project.
Construction began on July 1, 1965, at a ceremony attended by national leaders including Zhu De
, Deng Xiaoping
, and mayor Peng Zhen
. The most controversial outcome of the initial subway line was the demolition of the Beijing's historic inner city wall to make way for the subway. Construction plans for the subway from Fuxingmen to the Beijing Railway Station called for the removal of the wall, as well as the gates and archery towers at Hepingmen, Qianmen, and Chongwenmen. Leading architect Liang Sicheng
argued for protecting the wall as a landmark of the ancient capital. Chairman Mao favored demolishing the wall over demolishing homes. In the end, Premier Zhou Enlai
managed to preserve several walls and gates, such as the Qianmen gate and its arrow tower by slightly altering the course of the subway.
The initial line was completed in time to mark the 20th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic
on October 1, 1969. It ran 21 km from the army barracks at Fushouling to the Beijing Railway Station
and had 16 stations. This line forms parts of present-day Lines 1 and 2. It was the first subway to be built in China, and predates the metros of Hong Kong
, Seoul, Singapore
, San Francisco
, and Washington, D.C.
, but technical problems would plague the project for the next decade.
On November 11, 1969, an electrical fire killed three people, injured over 100 and destroyed two cars. Premier Zhou Enlai
placed the subway under the control of the People’s Liberation Army in 1970, but reliability problems persisted. On January 15, 1971, the initial line began operation on a trial basis between the Beijing Railway Station and Gongzhufen
. Single ride fare was set at ¥
0.10 and only members of the public with credential letters from their work units were permitted entry into the subway. The line delivered 8.28 million rides in 1971 but remained under trial operation throughout the Cultural Revolution. From 1971 to 1975, the subway was shut down for 398 days for political reasons. Despite its return to civilian control in 1976, the subway remained prone to closures due to fires, flooding, and accidents.
to the Beijing Railway Station. Investment in the project totaled ¥706 million. The subway was placed under the management of the Beijing Subway Company, then a subsidiary of the Beijing Public Transportation Company. Annual ridership reached 72.5 million in 1982.
On September 20, 1984, a second line was opened to the public. This horseshoe-shaped line was created from the eastern half of the initial line and corresponds to the southern half of the present-day Line 2. It ran 16.1 km (10 mi) from Fuxingmen
to Jianguomen
with 16 stations. Ridership reached 105 million in 1985. On December 28, 1987, the two existing lines were reconfigured into Lines 1, which ran from Pingguoyuan
to Fuxingmen and Line 2, in its current loop, tracing the Ming
city wall. Fares doubled to ¥0.20 for single-line rides and ¥0.30 for rides with transfers. Ridership reached 307 million in 1988. The subway was closed from June 3–4, 1989 during the suppression of the Tiananmen Square demonstrations
. In 1990, the subway carried more than one million riders per day for the first time, as total ridership reached 381 million. After a fare hike to ¥0.50 in 1991, annual ridership declined slightly to 371 million.
On January 26, 1991, planning began on the eastward extension of Line 1 under Chang’an Avenue from Fuxingmen
. The project was funded by a 19.2 billion yen
low-interest development assistance loan
from Japan
. Construction began on the eastern extension on June 24, 1992, and the Xidan
station opened on December 12, 1992. The remaining extension to Sihui East
was completed on September 28, 1999. National leaders Wen Jiabao
, Jia Qinglin
, Yu Zhengsheng
and mayor Liu Qi were on hand to mark the occasion. The full-length of Line 1 became operational on June 28, 2000.
Despite little track expansion in the early 1990s, ridership grew rapidly to reach an all-time high of 558 million in 1995, but fell to 444 million the next year when fares rose from ¥0.50 to ¥2.00. After fares rose again to ¥3.00 in 2000, annual ridership fell to 434 million from 481 million in 1999.
and accelerated plans to expand the subway. From 2002 and 2008, the city planned to invest ¥63.8 billion (US$7.69 billion) in subway projects. Work on Line 5 had already begun on September 25, 2000. Land clearing for Lines 4 and 10 began in November 2003 and construction commenced by the end of the year. Most new subway construction projects were funded by loans from the Big Four
state banks. Line 4 was funded by the Beijing MTR Corporation, a joint-venture with the Hong Kong MTR
. To achieve plans for 19 lines and 561 km (348.6 mi) by 2015, the city planned to invest a total of ¥200 billion ($29.2 billion).
The next additions to the subway were surface commuter lines that linked to the north and east of the city. Line 13
, a half loop that links the northern suburbs, first opened on the western half from Huilongguan to Xizhimen on September 28, 2002 and the entire line became operational on January 28, 2003. Batong Line, built as an extension to Line 1 to Tongzhou
district, was opened as a separate line on December 27, 2003. Work on these two lines had begun respectively in December 1999 and 2000. Ridership hit 607 million in 2004.
Line 5
came into operation on October 7, 2007. It was the city's first north-south line, extending from the Songjiazhuang in the south to Tiantongyuan
in the north. On the same day, subway fares were reduced from between ¥3 and ¥7 per trip, depending on the line and number of transfers, to a single flat fare of ¥2 with unlimited transfers. The lower fare policy caused the Beijing Subway to run a deficit of ¥600 million in 2007, which was expected to widen to ¥1 billion in 2008. The Beijing municipal government covered these deficits to encourage mass transit use, and reduce traffic congestion and air pollution. On a total of 655 million rides delivered in 2007, the government's subsidy averaged ¥0.92 per ride.
In the summer of 2008, in anticipation of the Summer Olympic Games, three new lines—Line 10, the Olympic Branch Line and the Airport Express were opened on July 19 for trial operation. The use of paper tickets, hand checked by clerks for 38 years, was discontinued and replaced by electronic tickets that are scanned by automatic fare collection machines upon entry and exit of the subway. Stations are outfitted with touch screen vending machines that sell single-ride tickets and multiple-ride Yikatong fare cards. The subway set a daily ridership record of 4.92 million on August 22, 2008, the day of the Games' closing ceremony
In 2008, total ridership rose by 75% to 1.2 billion.
After the Chinese government announced a major economic stimulus package in November 2008
, Beijing urban planning commission further expedited subway building plans, especially for surface light rails to suburban districts that are cheaper to build. In December 2008, the commission moved up completion dates of the Yizhuang and Daxing Lines to 2010 from 2012, finalized the route of the Fangshan Line, and unveiled the Changping and Western Suburban Lines.
Line 4
entered into operation on September 28, 2009, bringing subway service to much of western Beijing. It is managed by the Hong Kong MTR through a joint venture with the city. In 2009, the subway delivered 1.457 billion rides, which accounted for 19.24% of mass transit trips in Beijing.
On December 30, 2010, Lines 15
, Changping
, Fangshan
, Yizhuang
and Daxing
, all suburban lines, opened for operation. The addition of 108 km (67.1 mi) of tracks, a nearly 50% increase, has made the Beijing Subway the fourth longest metro of the world, just behind the New York City Subway
.
rail and draw power from the 750V
DC
third rail
. All lines operate 6-car train sets
with a maximum speed of 80 km/h, except the Airport Express, which has 4-car train sets that can reach 110 km/h.
From the subway's inception to 2003, nearly all Beijing Subway trains were manufactured by the Changchun Railway Vehicles Company Ltd., now a subsidiary of the China CNR Corporation. Currently, all trains on Lines 2, 5, 8, 10, 13, Airport Express and older models on Line 1 are made by Changchun RVC, which is under contract to supply trains for Lines Yizhuang, 9 and 10 (Phase II). The newest Line 1 trains as well as those on Lines 4 and Batong are made by Qingdao Sifang Locomotive & Rolling Stock Co., a subsidiary of China South Locomotive and Rolling Stock Industry Corp.
Qingdao Sifang will also provide train sets for Lines 8, Daxing and Changping.
The Beijing Subway Rolling Stock Equipment Co. Ltd.
, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Beijing Mass Transit Railway Operation Corp. Ltd.
, provides local assemblage, maintenance and repair services.
Increasing Capacity. With new lines drawing more riders to the network and the fare reduction making rides more affordable, the subway has experienced severe overcrowding, especially during the rush hour
. In response, the subway upgraded signal equipment to increase the frequency of trains and added to the capacity of subway trains. The minimum wait-time has been reduced to 2 min. on Line 2; 2 min. 15 sec. on Line 1; 3 min. on Lines 4, 5, 13, and Batong; 3.5 min. on Line 10; and 15 min. on the Airport Express. Lines 13 and Batong have converted 4-car to 6-car trains. Despite these efforts, during the morning rush hour, conductors at line terminals and other busy stations must routinely restrict the number of passengers who can board each train to prevent the train from becoming too crowded for passengers waiting at other stations down the line. As of August 31, 2011, 25 stations mainly on Lines 13, Batong, 1 and 5, have imposed such restrictions. Some of these stations have built queuing lines
outside the stations to manage the flow of waiting passengers.
Lines 6, 7 and 14 now under construction will reportedly have longer platforms that can accommodate 8-car trains.
Cellular Network Coverage. Mobile phones can currently be used throughout the system, except for in the tunnels between stations on Lines 1 and 2. There are plans for all lines and stations to have cellular coverage.
Access for the Physically Disabled. Each of the subway's 147 stations is equipped with ramps, lifts, or elevators to facilitate wheelchair access. Newer model train cars now provide space to accommodate wheelchairs. Automated audio announcements for incoming trains are available in all lines except for Line 1. On all lines, station names are announced in Mandarin Chinese and English.
Automatic Fare Collection System. Each station has two to fifteen ticket vending machines. Ticket vending machines in Line 4, 5, 8, and 10 stations and several of the Line 1 and 2 stations can also add credit to Yikatong cards.
Games, the subway initiated a three-month heightened security program from June 29 to September 20, 2008. Riders were subject to searches of their persons and belongings at all stations by security inspectors using metal detectors, X-Ray machines and sniffer dogs. Items banned from public transportation such as "guns, ammunition, knives, explosives, flammable and radioactive materials, and toxic chemicals" were subject to confiscation. The security program was reinstituted during the 2009 New Year Holiday and has since been made permanent through regulations enacted in February 2009.
in February 2003), the Beijing Subway removed all shops and vendors from the inside of subway stations and installed self-illuminating exit signs to facilitate emergency evacuations. The popular underground mall at the Xidan
station was also closed.
. Authorities have responded by installing doors on platforms of newer lines.
There have been several reported fatal incidents at subway construction sites in recent years. On October 8, 2003, the collapse of steel beams at the construction site of Line 5's Chongwenmen Station killed three workers and injured one. On March 29, 2007, the construction site at the Suzhoujie Station on Line 10
collapsed, burying six workers. On June 6, 2008, prior to the opening of Line 10, a worker was crushed to death inside an escalator in Zhichunlu Station when an intern turned on the moving staircase. On July 14, 2010, two workers were killed and eight were injured at the construction site of Line 15's Shunyi Station when the steel support structure collapsed on them. On June 1, 2011, one worker was killed when a section of Line 6 under construction in Xicheng District near Pinganli collapsed. A collapse of an escalator at the Beijing Zoo station on July 5, 2011, cause the death of one 13 year old boy and injuries to 28 others.
Rapid transit
A rapid transit, underground, subway, elevated railway, metro or metropolitan railway system is an electric passenger railway in an urban area with a high capacity and frequency, and grade separation from other traffic. Rapid transit systems are typically located either in underground tunnels or on...
rail network that serves the urban and suburban districts of Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
municipality
Direct-controlled municipality
A direct-controlled municipality is the highest level classification for cities used by unitary state, with status equal to that of the provinces in the respective countries...
. It is owned by the city of Beijing and has two operators, the wholly state owned Beijing Mass Transit Railway Operation Corp.
Beijing Mass Transit Railway Operation Corporation Limited
Beijing Mass Transit Railway Operation Corporation Limited formerly known as the Beijing Municipal Subway Company , is the Beijing city-owned company that operates 8 lines of the Beijing Subway. Like many Chinese state-owned companies, it is managed by a chief executive and overseen by a board of...
, which operates 12 lines, and the Beijing MTR Corp., a public-private joint-venture with the Hong Kong MTR
MTR
Mass Transit Railway is the rapid transit railway system in Hong Kong. Originally opened in 1979, the system now includes 211.6 km of rail with 155 stations, including 86 railway stations and 69 light rail stops...
, which manages 2 lines.
The subway's first line opened in 1969, and the network now has 14 lines, 172 stations and 336 km (208.8 mi) of track
Standard gauge
The standard gauge is a widely-used track gauge . Approximately 60% of the world's existing railway lines are built to this gauge...
in operation. It is the oldest subway in mainland China
Mainland China
Mainland China, the Chinese mainland or simply the mainland, is a geopolitical term that refers to the area under the jurisdiction of the People's Republic of China . According to the Taipei-based Mainland Affairs Council, the term excludes the PRC Special Administrative Regions of Hong Kong and...
, and the second in length after the Shanghai Metro
Shanghai Metro
The Shanghai Metro is the urban rapid transit system of China's largest city, Shanghai. The system incorporates both subway and light rail lines. It opened in 1995, making Shanghai the third city in Mainland China, after Beijing and Tianjin, to have a rapid transit system...
. Among the world's metro systems, the Beijing Subway ranks fourth in track length after the metros of Shanghai, London
London Underground
The London Underground is a rapid transit system serving a large part of Greater London and some parts of Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and Essex in England...
and New York
New York City Subway
The New York City Subway is a rapid transit system owned by the City of New York and leased to the New York City Transit Authority, a subsidiary agency of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and also known as MTA New York City Transit...
, and fifth in annual ridership
Metro systems by annual passenger rides
The most-used metro systems in terms of passenger rides per year:# Tokyo Subway 3.161 billion # Moscow Metro 2.348 billion # Seoul Subway 2.048 billion...
after those of Tokyo
Tokyo Metro
is one of two rapid transit systems making up the Tokyo subway system, the other being Toei. It is the most used subway system in the world in terms of annual passenger rides.-Organization:...
, Moscow, Seoul
Seoul Metro
Seoul Metro is a public corporation which runs the Seoul Subway Lines 1 to 4.From 1970 to 2006, it was called Seoul Metropolitan Subway Corporation.-Lines:- See also :* Korail* Seoul Metropolitan Rapid Transit Corporation...
, and Shanghai.
In 2010, the Beijing Subway delivered over 1.8 billion rides, and on September 9, 2011, set a single-day record of 7.57 million. All but two of Beijing Subway's 14 lines were built within the past decade. On December 30, 2010, five lines, Line 15
Line 15, Beijing Subway
Line 15 of the Beijing Subway is a rapid transit rail line in northern Beijing with one portion in operation and the remainder under construction....
, Changping
Changping Line, Beijing Subway
The Changping Line of the Beijing Subway is a rapid transit subway line in northern Beijing. The line opened on December 30, 2010 and currently runs run north from the Xi'erqi station on Line 13 to Nanshao...
, Fangshan
Fangshan Line, Beijing Subway
The Fangshan Line of the Beijing Subway is a subway line in western Beijing. The line runs north and east from Suzhuang Dajie in Fangshan District to Guogongzhuang in Fengtai District, where it will connect with the southern terminus of Line 9, currently under construction...
, Yizhuang
Yizhuang Line, Beijing Subway
The Yizhuang Line of the Beijing Subway , formerly designated Line L2, is a light rail line that connects the Yizhuang Industrial Park with Beijing's subway network. The line is long with 14 stations, including six underground and eight on the surface...
and Daxing
Daxing Line, Beijing Subway
The Daxing Line of the Beijing Subway is a light rail line that connects the southern Daxing District of the city with the subway network. It extends Line 4 south from its southern terminus at Majialou, on the 4th Ring Road in Fengtai District, to Nanzhao Lu, beyond the 6th Ring Road in Daxing...
, entered into operation. Despite this rapid expansion, the existing network cannot adequately meet the city's mass transit needs and extensive expansion plans call for 19 lines and over 660 km (410.1 mi) of track in operation by 2015 and 1000 km (621.4 mi) by 2020. The Chinese government's ¥4 trillion economic stimulus package
2008 Chinese economic stimulus plan
The 2008–2009 Chinese economic stimulus plan is a RMB¥ 4 trillion stimulus package announced by the central government of the People's Republic of China on 9 November 2008 as an attempt to minimize the impact of the global financial crisis on the world's second largest economy...
has accelerated subway construction. The network is set to reach 420 km (261 mi) by 2012.
Fares
A flat fare of RMB(¥)Renminbi
The Renminbi is the official currency of the People's Republic of China . Renminbi is legal tender in mainland China, but not in Hong Kong or Macau. It is issued by the People's Bank of China, the monetary authority of the PRC...
2.00 with unlimited transfers applies to all lines except the Airport Express
Airport Line, Beijing Subway
The Airport Express of the Beijing Subway also known as ABC is an elevated Metro line that connects the Beijing Capital International Airport with Beijing's urban center. The express line has only four stops: Dongzhimen and Sanyuanqiao in the city , and Terminal 2 and Terminal 3 of the Capital...
, which costs ¥25 Children below 1.2 metres (47.2 in) in height ride for free when accompanied by a paying adult.
All lines now collect fares through automatic fare collection (AFC) machines that accept single-ride tickets and the One Card Through Card or Yikatong, an integrated circuit card (ICC card) that can store credit for multiple rides. Riders can purchase tickets and add credit to Yikatong at ticket counters and vending machines in every station. Yikatong is also accepted on many city buses, and can be used as e-money for other purchases.
The use of tickets hand checked by clerks was phased out, ending on June 9, 2008. Before the flat fare was introduced on October 7, 2007, fares ranged from ¥3 to ¥7, depending on the line and number of transfers.
Hours of operation
The subway is generally closed after midnight, unless a special occasion prompts extended operating hours. The first trains depart terminals at around 5 am and the last leave at around 11 pm.Lines in operation
| Line & Colour | Terminals (District) |
Opened |
Newest Extension |
Length km |
Stations (surface) |
Transfers | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pingguoyuan Pingguoyuan Station Pingguoyuan Station is a station on Line 1 of the Beijing Subway. It is the western terminus of Line 1.... (Shijingshan Shijingshan District Shijingshan District is an urban district of the municipality of Beijing. It lies to the west of the urban core of Beijing, and is part of the Western Hills area... ) |
Sihui East Sihui East Station Sihui East Station is an interchange station on Line 1 and the Batong Line of the Beijing Subway. It is the eastern terminus of Line 1.... (Chaoyang Chaoyang District, Beijing Chaoyang District is a district of Beijing, China.Chaoyang is home to the majority of Beijing's many foreign embassies, the well-known Sanlitun bar street, as well as Beijing's growing CBD. The Olympic Park, built for the 2008 Summer Olympics, is also in Chaoyang... ) |
1971 | 1999 | 30.4 | 23 (2) | 2 Line 2, Beijing Subway Line 2 of the Beijing Subway is a rapid transit rail line that runs in a rectangular loop around the city centre. It traces the Ming Dynasty inner city wall, which was demolished and paved over by the 2nd Ring Road and Qianmen Avenue. It is second oldest and busiest of Beijing's subway lines and... , 4 Line 4, Beijing Subway Line 4 of the Beijing Subway is the 9th subway line in Beijing's mass transit network. It entered into operation on September 28, 2009, and runs from north to south, parallel and to the west of Line 5, through Haidian, Xicheng, Xuanwu and Fengtai Districts in the western half of the city. It is... , 5 Line 5, Beijing Subway Line 5 of the Beijing Subway was Beijing's first subway with a north-south route. It runs for 27.6 km, in a near straight line, just east of the city centre from Tiantongyuan North in Changping District to Songjiazhuang in Fengtai District. It entered into operation on October 2007. Line... , 10 Line 10, Beijing Subway Line 10 of the Beijing Subway is the second loop line in Beijing's rapid transit network.Half of the Line 10 loop, north and east of the city centre, has been in operation since July 19, 2008. The other half of the loop, in the south and west, is now under construction. In the north, south and... , Batong |
||
| Loop line through | 1971 | 1987 | 23.1 | 18 | 1 Line 1, Beijing Subway Line 1 of the Beijing Subway is the longest, oldest and busiest line of Beijing's mass transit rail network. It runs underneath Chang'an Avenue, the city's grand east-west thoroughfare, right through the heart of Beijing with stops on either side of Tiananmen Square... , 4 Line 4, Beijing Subway Line 4 of the Beijing Subway is the 9th subway line in Beijing's mass transit network. It entered into operation on September 28, 2009, and runs from north to south, parallel and to the west of Line 5, through Haidian, Xicheng, Xuanwu and Fengtai Districts in the western half of the city. It is... , 5 Line 5, Beijing Subway Line 5 of the Beijing Subway was Beijing's first subway with a north-south route. It runs for 27.6 km, in a near straight line, just east of the city centre from Tiantongyuan North in Changping District to Songjiazhuang in Fengtai District. It entered into operation on October 2007. Line... , 13 Line 13, Beijing Subway Line 13 of the Beijing Subway , also known as the CityRail Line , is a metro line that serves the northern suburbs of Beijing. On a map, Line 13's route is shaped like an inverted U that arcs north of the city and connects residential suburbs in Haidian, Changping and Chaoyang Districts with the... , Airport Airport Line, Beijing Subway The Airport Express of the Beijing Subway also known as ABC is an elevated Metro line that connects the Beijing Capital International Airport with Beijing's urban center. The express line has only four stops: Dongzhimen and Sanyuanqiao in the city , and Terminal 2 and Terminal 3 of the Capital... |
|||
| Xizhimen Xizhimen Station Xizhimen Station is an interchange station for Line 2, Line 4 and Line 13 of the Beijing Subway. Just outside of this station is Beijing North Railway Station.... (Xicheng Xicheng District Xicheng District is a district in Beijing, China. Xicheng District spans 32 square kilometres, making it the largest portion of the old city , and has 706,691 inhabitants . Its postal code is 100032. Xicheng is subdivided into 15 subdistricts of the city proper of Beijing... ) |
Beijing Railway Station Beijing railway station Beijing Railway Station is one of Beijing's railway stations, opened in the 1950s, as can be seen from its architecture . It is located in the city's central location, just next to Jianguomen, and is within the confines of the city's 2nd Ring Road... (Dongcheng Dongcheng District Dongcheng District may refer to the following two districts in China:*Dongcheng District, Beijing, district in Beijing*Dongcheng District, Dongguan, district in Dongguan, Guangdong... ) |
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| style="text-align:center;"| Anheqiao North
Anheqiao North Station
' is a station on Line 4 of the Beijing Subway in China. This is the terminal station in the north of Line 4. It is built above the ground and has separated platforms....
(Haidian)
| style="text-align:center;"| Gongyixiqiao
Gongyixiqiao Station
' is a station on Line 4 and the Daxing Line of the Beijing Subway in China....
(Fengtai
Fengtai District
Fengtai District is a suburban district of the municipality of Beijing. It lies to the southwest of the urban core of the city.-History:In Qing Dynasty times, Fengtai was where the Imperial Manchu Army had its camps, trained, and held parades on festive occasions.It is 304.2 square kilometers in...
)
| style="text-align:center;"|2009
| style="text-align:center;"|2010
| style="text-align:center;"|28.2
| style="text-align:center;"|24 (1)
| 1
Line 1, Beijing Subway
Line 1 of the Beijing Subway is the longest, oldest and busiest line of Beijing's mass transit rail network. It runs underneath Chang'an Avenue, the city's grand east-west thoroughfare, right through the heart of Beijing with stops on either side of Tiananmen Square...
, 2
Line 2, Beijing Subway
Line 2 of the Beijing Subway is a rapid transit rail line that runs in a rectangular loop around the city centre. It traces the Ming Dynasty inner city wall, which was demolished and paved over by the 2nd Ring Road and Qianmen Avenue. It is second oldest and busiest of Beijing's subway lines and...
, 10
Line 10, Beijing Subway
Line 10 of the Beijing Subway is the second loop line in Beijing's rapid transit network.Half of the Line 10 loop, north and east of the city centre, has been in operation since July 19, 2008. The other half of the loop, in the south and west, is now under construction. In the north, south and...
, 13
Line 13, Beijing Subway
Line 13 of the Beijing Subway , also known as the CityRail Line , is a metro line that serves the northern suburbs of Beijing. On a map, Line 13's route is shaped like an inverted U that arcs north of the city and connects residential suburbs in Haidian, Changping and Chaoyang Districts with the...
, Daxing
Daxing Line, Beijing Subway
The Daxing Line of the Beijing Subway is a light rail line that connects the southern Daxing District of the city with the subway network. It extends Line 4 south from its southern terminus at Majialou, on the 4th Ring Road in Fengtai District, to Nanzhao Lu, beyond the 6th Ring Road in Daxing...
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|
| style="text-align:center;"| Tiantongyuan North
Tiantongyuan North Station
Tiantongyuan North Station is a station on Line 5 of the Beijing Subway....
(Changping
Changping District
Changping District , formerly Changping County , is situated in the suburbs of northwest Beijing.Changping District, covering an area of 1,430 square kilometers, has 2 subdistricts of the city of Changping and 15 towns with total population of 614,821...
)
| style="text-align:center;"| Songjiazhuang
Songjiazhuang Station
Songjiazhuang Station is a station on Line 5 and the Yizhuang Line of the Beijing Subway....
(Fengtai
Fengtai District
Fengtai District is a suburban district of the municipality of Beijing. It lies to the southwest of the urban core of the city.-History:In Qing Dynasty times, Fengtai was where the Imperial Manchu Army had its camps, trained, and held parades on festive occasions.It is 304.2 square kilometers in...
)
| style="text-align:center;"|2007
| style="text-align:center;"|—
| style="text-align:center;"|27.6
| style="text-align:center;"|23 (7)
| style="text-align:center;"|1
Line 1, Beijing Subway
Line 1 of the Beijing Subway is the longest, oldest and busiest line of Beijing's mass transit rail network. It runs underneath Chang'an Avenue, the city's grand east-west thoroughfare, right through the heart of Beijing with stops on either side of Tiananmen Square...
, 2
Line 2, Beijing Subway
Line 2 of the Beijing Subway is a rapid transit rail line that runs in a rectangular loop around the city centre. It traces the Ming Dynasty inner city wall, which was demolished and paved over by the 2nd Ring Road and Qianmen Avenue. It is second oldest and busiest of Beijing's subway lines and...
, 10
Line 10, Beijing Subway
Line 10 of the Beijing Subway is the second loop line in Beijing's rapid transit network.Half of the Line 10 loop, north and east of the city centre, has been in operation since July 19, 2008. The other half of the loop, in the south and west, is now under construction. In the north, south and...
, 13
Line 13, Beijing Subway
Line 13 of the Beijing Subway , also known as the CityRail Line , is a metro line that serves the northern suburbs of Beijing. On a map, Line 13's route is shaped like an inverted U that arcs north of the city and connects residential suburbs in Haidian, Changping and Chaoyang Districts with the...
, Yizhuang
Yizhuang Line, Beijing Subway
The Yizhuang Line of the Beijing Subway , formerly designated Line L2, is a light rail line that connects the Yizhuang Industrial Park with Beijing's subway network. The line is long with 14 stations, including six underground and eight on the surface...
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|
| style="text-align:center;"| Beitucheng
Beitucheng Station
' is an interchange station on Line 8 and Line 10 of the Beijing Subway in China....
(Chaoyang
Chaoyang District, Beijing
Chaoyang District is a district of Beijing, China.Chaoyang is home to the majority of Beijing's many foreign embassies, the well-known Sanlitun bar street, as well as Beijing's growing CBD. The Olympic Park, built for the 2008 Summer Olympics, is also in Chaoyang...
)
| style="text-align:center;"| South Gate of Forest Park
South Gate of Forest Park Station
South Gate of Forest Park Station is a station on Line 8 of the Beijing Subway in China.-See also:*Olympic Forest Park...
(Chaoyang
Chaoyang District, Beijing
Chaoyang District is a district of Beijing, China.Chaoyang is home to the majority of Beijing's many foreign embassies, the well-known Sanlitun bar street, as well as Beijing's growing CBD. The Olympic Park, built for the 2008 Summer Olympics, is also in Chaoyang...
)
| style="text-align:center;"|2008
| —
| style="text-align:center;"|4.5
| style="text-align:center;"|4
| style="text-align:center;"|10
Line 10, Beijing Subway
Line 10 of the Beijing Subway is the second loop line in Beijing's rapid transit network.Half of the Line 10 loop, north and east of the city centre, has been in operation since July 19, 2008. The other half of the loop, in the south and west, is now under construction. In the north, south and...
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|
| style="text-align:center;"| Bagou
Bagou Station
Bagou Station is a subway station on Line 10 of the Beijing Subway in China....
(Haidian)
| style="text-align:center;"| Jinsong
Jinsong Station
Jinsong Station is a subway station on Line 10 of the Beijing Subway in China. Currently it is one of the termini of the train. The other terminus is at Bagou. Beijing Mass Transit Railway Company is expanding Line 10 into a ring like Line 2....
(Chaoyang
Chaoyang District, Beijing
Chaoyang District is a district of Beijing, China.Chaoyang is home to the majority of Beijing's many foreign embassies, the well-known Sanlitun bar street, as well as Beijing's growing CBD. The Olympic Park, built for the 2008 Summer Olympics, is also in Chaoyang...
)
| style="text-align:center;"|2008
| style="text-align:center;"|—
| style="text-align:center;"|24.7
| style="text-align:center;"|22
| style="text-align:center;"|1
Line 1, Beijing Subway
Line 1 of the Beijing Subway is the longest, oldest and busiest line of Beijing's mass transit rail network. It runs underneath Chang'an Avenue, the city's grand east-west thoroughfare, right through the heart of Beijing with stops on either side of Tiananmen Square...
, 4
Line 4, Beijing Subway
Line 4 of the Beijing Subway is the 9th subway line in Beijing's mass transit network. It entered into operation on September 28, 2009, and runs from north to south, parallel and to the west of Line 5, through Haidian, Xicheng, Xuanwu and Fengtai Districts in the western half of the city. It is...
, 5
Line 5, Beijing Subway
Line 5 of the Beijing Subway was Beijing's first subway with a north-south route. It runs for 27.6 km, in a near straight line, just east of the city centre from Tiantongyuan North in Changping District to Songjiazhuang in Fengtai District. It entered into operation on October 2007. Line...
, 8
Line 8, Beijing Subway
Line 8 of the Beijing Subway , also known as the Olympic Branch Line , is the shortest of Beijing's subway lines currently in operation. It connects Beijing's Olympic village, called the Olympic Green, with Line 10, north of the city centre, in Chaoyang District. The line spans just 4.53 km, and...
, 13
Line 13, Beijing Subway
Line 13 of the Beijing Subway , also known as the CityRail Line , is a metro line that serves the northern suburbs of Beijing. On a map, Line 13's route is shaped like an inverted U that arcs north of the city and connects residential suburbs in Haidian, Changping and Chaoyang Districts with the...
, Airport
Airport Line, Beijing Subway
The Airport Express of the Beijing Subway also known as ABC is an elevated Metro line that connects the Beijing Capital International Airport with Beijing's urban center. The express line has only four stops: Dongzhimen and Sanyuanqiao in the city , and Terminal 2 and Terminal 3 of the Capital...
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|
| style="text-align:center;"| Xizhimen
Xizhimen Station
Xizhimen Station is an interchange station for Line 2, Line 4 and Line 13 of the Beijing Subway. Just outside of this station is Beijing North Railway Station....
(Xicheng
Xicheng District
Xicheng District is a district in Beijing, China. Xicheng District spans 32 square kilometres, making it the largest portion of the old city , and has 706,691 inhabitants . Its postal code is 100032. Xicheng is subdivided into 15 subdistricts of the city proper of Beijing...
)
| style="text-align:center;"| Dongzhimen
Dongzhimen Station
Dongzhimen Station is an interchange station for Line 2, Line 13 and the Airport Express of the Beijing Subway.Dongzhimen is the eastern terminus for Line 13 service. It is also the only underground station on the line. There are two side platforms in the Line 13 station. One is for customers...
(Dongcheng
Dongcheng District, Beijing
Dongcheng District is an urban district in Beijing covering the eastern half of Beijing's urban core. It is 24.7 square kilometres in area and has a population of 535,558 . Dongcheng District covers several important parts of Beijing...
)
| style="text-align:center;"|2002
| style="text-align:center;"|2003
| style="text-align:center;"|40.9
| style="text-align:center;"|16 (15)
| style="text-align:center;"|2
Line 2, Beijing Subway
Line 2 of the Beijing Subway is a rapid transit rail line that runs in a rectangular loop around the city centre. It traces the Ming Dynasty inner city wall, which was demolished and paved over by the 2nd Ring Road and Qianmen Avenue. It is second oldest and busiest of Beijing's subway lines and...
, 4
Line 4, Beijing Subway
Line 4 of the Beijing Subway is the 9th subway line in Beijing's mass transit network. It entered into operation on September 28, 2009, and runs from north to south, parallel and to the west of Line 5, through Haidian, Xicheng, Xuanwu and Fengtai Districts in the western half of the city. It is...
, 5
Line 5, Beijing Subway
Line 5 of the Beijing Subway was Beijing's first subway with a north-south route. It runs for 27.6 km, in a near straight line, just east of the city centre from Tiantongyuan North in Changping District to Songjiazhuang in Fengtai District. It entered into operation on October 2007. Line...
, 10
Line 10, Beijing Subway
Line 10 of the Beijing Subway is the second loop line in Beijing's rapid transit network.Half of the Line 10 loop, north and east of the city centre, has been in operation since July 19, 2008. The other half of the loop, in the south and west, is now under construction. In the north, south and...
, 15
Line 15, Beijing Subway
Line 15 of the Beijing Subway is a rapid transit rail line in northern Beijing with one portion in operation and the remainder under construction....
, Changping
Changping Line, Beijing Subway
The Changping Line of the Beijing Subway is a rapid transit subway line in northern Beijing. The line opened on December 30, 2010 and currently runs run north from the Xi'erqi station on Line 13 to Nanshao...
, Airport
Airport Line, Beijing Subway
The Airport Express of the Beijing Subway also known as ABC is an elevated Metro line that connects the Beijing Capital International Airport with Beijing's urban center. The express line has only four stops: Dongzhimen and Sanyuanqiao in the city , and Terminal 2 and Terminal 3 of the Capital...
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|
| style="text-align:center;"| Wangjing West
Wangjing West Station
' is an interchange station between Lines 13 and 15 on the Beijing Subway. The underground platform on Line 15 serves as the current western terminus of the line until the line extends west in 2013....
(Chaoyang
Chaoyang District, Beijing
Chaoyang District is a district of Beijing, China.Chaoyang is home to the majority of Beijing's many foreign embassies, the well-known Sanlitun bar street, as well as Beijing's growing CBD. The Olympic Park, built for the 2008 Summer Olympics, is also in Chaoyang...
)
| style="text-align:center;"| Houshayu
Houshayu Station
Houshayu station is a station on Line 15 of the Beijing Subway...
(Shunyi
Shunyi District
Shunyi District is an administrative district of Beijing, located outside of the city proper.-Overview:...
)
| style="text-align:center;"|2010
| style="text-align:center;"|—
| style="text-align:center;"|20.2
| style="text-align:center;"|9 (4)
| style="text-align:center;"|13
Line 13, Beijing Subway
Line 13 of the Beijing Subway , also known as the CityRail Line , is a metro line that serves the northern suburbs of Beijing. On a map, Line 13's route is shaped like an inverted U that arcs north of the city and connects residential suburbs in Haidian, Changping and Chaoyang Districts with the...
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|
| style="text-align:center;"| Sihui
Sihui Station
Sihui Station , located in Sihui, Beijing, is an interchange station on Line 1 and the Batong Line of the Beijing Subway. It is the western terminus of the Batong Line....
(Chaoyang
Chaoyang District, Beijing
Chaoyang District is a district of Beijing, China.Chaoyang is home to the majority of Beijing's many foreign embassies, the well-known Sanlitun bar street, as well as Beijing's growing CBD. The Olympic Park, built for the 2008 Summer Olympics, is also in Chaoyang...
)
| style="text-align:center;"| Tuqiao
Tuqiao Station
' is a station on Batong Line of the Beijing Subway in People's Republic of China....
(Tongzhou
Tongzhou District
Tongzhou District is a district of Beijing, the capital of People's Republic of China. It is located in southeast Beijing and considered the eastern gateway to the Chinese capital...
)
| style="text-align:center;"|2003
| style="text-align:center;"|—
| style="text-align:center;"|18.9
| style="text-align:center;"|13 (13)
| style="text-align:center;"|1
Line 1, Beijing Subway
Line 1 of the Beijing Subway is the longest, oldest and busiest line of Beijing's mass transit rail network. It runs underneath Chang'an Avenue, the city's grand east-west thoroughfare, right through the heart of Beijing with stops on either side of Tiananmen Square...
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|
| style="text-align:center;"| Xi'erqi
Xi'erqi Station
' is an interchange station between Line 13 and the Changping Line on the Beijing Subway in China. The station has relocated to a new location on 25 December 2010 to ease transfer between the two lines when the new Changping Line opened, and the original station is now defunct....
(Haidian)
| style="text-align:center;"| Nanshao
(Changping
Changping District
Changping District , formerly Changping County , is situated in the suburbs of northwest Beijing.Changping District, covering an area of 1,430 square kilometers, has 2 subdistricts of the city of Changping and 15 towns with total population of 614,821...
)
| style="text-align:center;"|2010
| style="text-align:center;"|—
| style="text-align:center;"|21.24
| style="text-align:center;"|7 (6)
| style="text-align:center;"|13
Line 13, Beijing Subway
Line 13 of the Beijing Subway , also known as the CityRail Line , is a metro line that serves the northern suburbs of Beijing. On a map, Line 13's route is shaped like an inverted U that arcs north of the city and connects residential suburbs in Haidian, Changping and Chaoyang Districts with the...
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|
| style="text-align:center;"| Gongyixiqiao
Gongyixiqiao Station
' is a station on Line 4 and the Daxing Line of the Beijing Subway in China....
(Fengtai
Fengtai District
Fengtai District is a suburban district of the municipality of Beijing. It lies to the southwest of the urban core of the city.-History:In Qing Dynasty times, Fengtai was where the Imperial Manchu Army had its camps, trained, and held parades on festive occasions.It is 304.2 square kilometers in...
)
| style="text-align:center;"| Tiangongyuan
(Daxing
Daxing District
Daxing District is a suburb of Beijing, situated to the south of the city.-Overview:...
)
| style="text-align:center;"|2010
| —
| style="text-align:center;"|21.7
| style="text-align:center;"|11 (1)
| style="text-align:center;"|4
Line 4, Beijing Subway
Line 4 of the Beijing Subway is the 9th subway line in Beijing's mass transit network. It entered into operation on September 28, 2009, and runs from north to south, parallel and to the west of Line 5, through Haidian, Xicheng, Xuanwu and Fengtai Districts in the western half of the city. It is...
, Fangshan
Fangshan Line, Beijing Subway
The Fangshan Line of the Beijing Subway is a subway line in western Beijing. The line runs north and east from Suzhuang Dajie in Fangshan District to Guogongzhuang in Fengtai District, where it will connect with the southern terminus of Line 9, currently under construction...
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|
| style="text-align:center;"| Suzhuang
(Fangshan
Fangshan District
Fangshan District is situated in the southwest of Beijing, 38 km away from the downtown Beijing. It has an area of 2,019 square kilometers and a population of 814,367...
)
| style="text-align:center;"| Dabaotai
Dabaotai Station
Dabaotai station is a station on Fangshan Line of the Beijing Subway....
(Fengtai
Fengtai District
Fengtai District is a suburban district of the municipality of Beijing. It lies to the southwest of the urban core of the city.-History:In Qing Dynasty times, Fengtai was where the Imperial Manchu Army had its camps, trained, and held parades on festive occasions.It is 304.2 square kilometers in...
)
| style="text-align:center;"|2010
| style="text-align:center;"|—
| style="text-align:center;"|24.7
| style="text-align:center;"|10 (9)
| style="text-align:center;"|Daxing
Daxing Line, Beijing Subway
The Daxing Line of the Beijing Subway is a light rail line that connects the southern Daxing District of the city with the subway network. It extends Line 4 south from its southern terminus at Majialou, on the 4th Ring Road in Fengtai District, to Nanzhao Lu, beyond the 6th Ring Road in Daxing...
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|
| style="text-align:center;"| Songjiazhuang
Songjiazhuang Station
Songjiazhuang Station is a station on Line 5 and the Yizhuang Line of the Beijing Subway....
(Fengtai
Fengtai District
Fengtai District is a suburban district of the municipality of Beijing. It lies to the southwest of the urban core of the city.-History:In Qing Dynasty times, Fengtai was where the Imperial Manchu Army had its camps, trained, and held parades on festive occasions.It is 304.2 square kilometers in...
)
| style="text-align:center;"| Yizhuang Railway Station
Yizhuang Railway Station
Yizhuang Railway Station is a railway station on the Beijing-Tianjin Intercity Railway in Beijing, China. The railway station is connected to the Yizhuang Railway Station Subway Station on the Beijing Subway's Yizhuang Line and is expected to enter service along with the Subway line...
(Tongzhou
Tongzhou District
Tongzhou District is a district of Beijing, the capital of People's Republic of China. It is located in southeast Beijing and considered the eastern gateway to the Chinese capital...
)
| style="text-align:center;"|2010
| style="text-align:center;"|—
| style="text-align:center;"|23.3
| style="text-align:center;"|14 (8)
| style="text-align:center;"|5
Line 5, Beijing Subway
Line 5 of the Beijing Subway was Beijing's first subway with a north-south route. It runs for 27.6 km, in a near straight line, just east of the city centre from Tiantongyuan North in Changping District to Songjiazhuang in Fengtai District. It entered into operation on October 2007. Line...
|-
| style="text-align:center;" rowspan=2|
| style="text-align:center;" rowspan=2|Dongzhimen
Dongzhimen Station
Dongzhimen Station is an interchange station for Line 2, Line 13 and the Airport Express of the Beijing Subway.Dongzhimen is the eastern terminus for Line 13 service. It is also the only underground station on the line. There are two side platforms in the Line 13 station. One is for customers...
(Dongcheng
Dongcheng District, Beijing
Dongcheng District is an urban district in Beijing covering the eastern half of Beijing's urban core. It is 24.7 square kilometres in area and has a population of 535,558 . Dongcheng District covers several important parts of Beijing...
)
| style="text-align:center;"| Terminal 2 (Chaoyang
Chaoyang District, Beijing
Chaoyang District is a district of Beijing, China.Chaoyang is home to the majority of Beijing's many foreign embassies, the well-known Sanlitun bar street, as well as Beijing's growing CBD. The Olympic Park, built for the 2008 Summer Olympics, is also in Chaoyang...
)
| style="text-align:center;" rowspan=2|2008
| style="text-align:center;" rowspan=2|—
| style="text-align:center;" rowspan=2|28.1
| style="text-align:center;" rowspan=2|4 (1)
| style="text-align:center;" rowspan=2|2
Line 2, Beijing Subway
Line 2 of the Beijing Subway is a rapid transit rail line that runs in a rectangular loop around the city centre. It traces the Ming Dynasty inner city wall, which was demolished and paved over by the 2nd Ring Road and Qianmen Avenue. It is second oldest and busiest of Beijing's subway lines and...
, 10
Line 10, Beijing Subway
Line 10 of the Beijing Subway is the second loop line in Beijing's rapid transit network.Half of the Line 10 loop, north and east of the city centre, has been in operation since July 19, 2008. The other half of the loop, in the south and west, is now under construction. In the north, south and...
, 13
Line 13, Beijing Subway
Line 13 of the Beijing Subway , also known as the CityRail Line , is a metro line that serves the northern suburbs of Beijing. On a map, Line 13's route is shaped like an inverted U that arcs north of the city and connects residential suburbs in Haidian, Changping and Chaoyang Districts with the...
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| Terminal 3 (Shunyi
Shunyi District
Shunyi District is an administrative district of Beijing, located outside of the city proper.-Overview:...
)
|- style = "background:#606060; height: 2pt"
| colspan = "9" |
|}
Lines serving the urban core:
- Line 1Line 1, Beijing SubwayLine 1 of the Beijing Subway is the longest, oldest and busiest line of Beijing's mass transit rail network. It runs underneath Chang'an Avenue, the city's grand east-west thoroughfare, right through the heart of Beijing with stops on either side of Tiananmen Square...
, a straight east-west line underneath Chang'an AvenueChang'an AvenueChang'an Avenue , literally "Eternal Peace Street", is a major thoroughfare in Beijing, China.Chang'an is the old name for Xi'an which was the capital of China during the Tang Dynasty and other periods....
, which bisects the city through Tiananmen SquareTiananmen SquareTiananmen Square is a large city square in the center of Beijing, China, named after the Tiananmen Gate located to its North, separating it from the Forbidden City. Tiananmen Square is the third largest city square in the world...
. Line 1 connects major commercial centres, XidanXidanXidan is a major traditional commercial area in Beijing, China. It is located in the Xicheng District.The Xidan commercial district incorporates the Xidan Culture Square, North Xidan Street, as well as many supermarkets and department stores...
, WangfujingWangfujingWángfǔjǐng , located in Dongcheng District, Beijing, is one of the Chinese capital's most famous shopping streets. Much of the road is off-limits to cars and other motor vehicles, and it is not rare to see the entire street full of people. Since the middle of the Ming Dynasty there have been...
, DongdanDongdanDongdan is a crossing on Beijing's Chang'an Avenue and also a part of eastern central Beijing.In the Dongdan region one finds the Oriental Plaza, and Dongdan North Street, termed "silver street" for being next to Wangfujing Street. Like Wangfujing, Dongdan is also home to many shops.The Beijing...
and the Beijing CBDBeijing CBDThe Beijing Central Business District, or Beijing CBD , is the primary area of finance, media, and business services in Beijing, China. Beijing CBD occupies 3.99 km2 of the Chaoyang District on the east side of the city...
. - Line 2Line 2, Beijing SubwayLine 2 of the Beijing Subway is a rapid transit rail line that runs in a rectangular loop around the city centre. It traces the Ming Dynasty inner city wall, which was demolished and paved over by the 2nd Ring Road and Qianmen Avenue. It is second oldest and busiest of Beijing's subway lines and...
, a rectangular loop line, traces the Ming-eraMing DynastyThe Ming Dynasty, also Empire of the Great Ming, was the ruling dynasty of China from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan Dynasty. The Ming, "one of the greatest eras of orderly government and social stability in human history", was the last dynasty in China ruled by ethnic...
city wall that once surrounded the inner city, and stops at 11 of the wall's former gates (ending in men), now busy intersections, as well as the Beijing Railway StationBeijing railway stationBeijing Railway Station is one of Beijing's railway stations, opened in the 1950s, as can be seen from its architecture . It is located in the city's central location, just next to Jianguomen, and is within the confines of the city's 2nd Ring Road...
. - Line 4Line 4, Beijing SubwayLine 4 of the Beijing Subway is the 9th subway line in Beijing's mass transit network. It entered into operation on September 28, 2009, and runs from north to south, parallel and to the west of Line 5, through Haidian, Xicheng, Xuanwu and Fengtai Districts in the western half of the city. It is...
, a mainly north-south line running west of city centre with stops at the Summer PalaceSummer PalaceThe Summer Palace is a palace in Beijing, China. The Summer Palace is mainly dominated by Longevity Hill and the Kunming Lake. It covers an expanse of 2.9 square kilometers, three quarters of which is water....
, Old Summer PalaceOld Summer PalaceThe Old Summer Palace, known in China as Yuan Ming Yuan , and originally called the Imperial Gardens, was a complex of palaces and gardens in Beijing...
, PekingPeking UniversityPeking University , colloquially known in Chinese as Beida , is a major research university located in Beijing, China, and a member of the C9 League. It is the first established modern national university of China. It was founded as Imperial University of Peking in 1898 as a replacement of the...
and Renmin Universities, ZhongguancunZhongguancunZhongguancun , or Zhong Guan Cun, is a technology hub in Haidian District, Beijing, China.It is geographically situated in the northwestern part of Beijing city, in a band between the northwestern Third Ring Road and the northwestern Fourth Ring Road...
Technology Park, National LibraryNational Library of ChinaThe National Library of China or NLC in Beijing is the largest library in Asia, and one of the largest in the world with a collection of over 23 million volumes...
, Beijing ZooBeijing ZooThe Beijing Zoo is a zoological park in Beijing, China. Located in the Xicheng District, the zoo occupies an area of 89 hectares , including 5.6 hectares of lakes and ponds . It is one of the oldest zoos in China and has one of the largest animal collections in the country...
, XidanXidanXidan is a major traditional commercial area in Beijing, China. It is located in the Xicheng District.The Xidan commercial district incorporates the Xidan Culture Square, North Xidan Street, as well as many supermarkets and department stores...
and Beijing South Railway StationBeijing south railway stationThe current Beijing South Railway Station is a large railway station on the south side of Beijing that opened on August 1, 2008. The new station replaced the old Beijing South Station, first known as the Majiapu Railway Station and later known as the Yongdingmen Railway Station before 1988, which... - Line 5Line 5, Beijing SubwayLine 5 of the Beijing Subway was Beijing's first subway with a north-south route. It runs for 27.6 km, in a near straight line, just east of the city centre from Tiantongyuan North in Changping District to Songjiazhuang in Fengtai District. It entered into operation on October 2007. Line...
, a straight north-south line just east of the city centre. It passes the Temple of EarthTemple of EarthThe Temple of the Earth in Beijing, China, is located in the northern part of central Beijing, around the Andingmen area and just outside of Beijing's second ring road. It is also located just a few hundred yards north of Yonghe Temple...
, Lama Temple and the Temple of HeavenTemple of HeavenThe Temple of Heaven, literally the Altar of Heaven is a complex of Taoist buildings situated in the southeastern part of central Beijing. The complex was visited by the Emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties for annual ceremonies of prayer to Heaven for good harvest...
. - Line 8, Phase I (Olympic Branch Line)Line 8, Beijing SubwayLine 8 of the Beijing Subway , also known as the Olympic Branch Line , is the shortest of Beijing's subway lines currently in operation. It connects Beijing's Olympic village, called the Olympic Green, with Line 10, north of the city centre, in Chaoyang District. The line spans just 4.53 km, and...
extends north off Line 10 with three stops in the Olympic Green. - Line 10Line 10, Beijing SubwayLine 10 of the Beijing Subway is the second loop line in Beijing's rapid transit network.Half of the Line 10 loop, north and east of the city centre, has been in operation since July 19, 2008. The other half of the loop, in the south and west, is now under construction. In the north, south and...
, an inverted L-shaped shaped route to the north and east of Line 2. It runs east-west, following the Yuan-eraYuan DynastyThe Yuan Dynasty , or Great Yuan Empire was a ruling dynasty founded by the Mongol leader Kublai Khan, who ruled most of present-day China, all of modern Mongolia and its surrounding areas, lasting officially from 1271 to 1368. It is considered both as a division of the Mongol Empire and as an...
city wall in the north, passing just south of the Olympic GreenOlympic GreenThe Olympic Green is an Olympic Park in Beijing, China constructed for the 2008 Summer Olympics. Since then, the streets around the park have been used for an exhibition street race of the FIA GT1 World Championship in 2011, after a race at Goldenport Park Circuit in the vicinity.- Beijing...
and turns south at SanyuanqiaoSanyuanqiaoSanyuanqiao, or Sanyuan Bridge is a major overpass on the northeastern stretch of Beijing's 3rd Ring Road. It was opened in 1984.The overpass links three major passageways in Beijing and the complex structure made it a speciality on its own in its first days...
, northeast of the city, and follows the eastern 3rd Ring Road through the embassy district and Beijing CBDBeijing CBDThe Beijing Central Business District, or Beijing CBD , is the primary area of finance, media, and business services in Beijing, China. Beijing CBD occupies 3.99 km2 of the Chaoyang District on the east side of the city...
.
Lines to outlying suburbs:
- Line 13Line 13, Beijing SubwayLine 13 of the Beijing Subway , also known as the CityRail Line , is a metro line that serves the northern suburbs of Beijing. On a map, Line 13's route is shaped like an inverted U that arcs north of the city and connects residential suburbs in Haidian, Changping and Chaoyang Districts with the...
arcs across suburbs north of the city and channels commuters to XizhimenXizhimenXizhimen was formerly a gate in the Beijing city wall and is now the name of a transportation node in Beijing. The gate formerly was the entrance of drinking water for the Emperor, coming from the Jade Spring Hills to the west of Beijing...
and DongzhimenDongzhimenDongzhimen is the name of one of the gates in the old city walls of Beijing, it is now a transportation node in Beijing.The 2nd Ring Road currently links, albeit somewhat indirectly, with two roads which eventually become the Airport Expressway and China National Highway 101...
, at the northwest and northeast corners of Line 2. - Line 15Line 15, Beijing SubwayLine 15 of the Beijing Subway is a rapid transit rail line in northern Beijing with one portion in operation and the remainder under construction....
branches off Line 13 at Wangjing West and runs northeast to suburban Shunyi DistrictShunyi DistrictShunyi District is an administrative district of Beijing, located outside of the city proper.-Overview:...
. - Batong Line extends Line 1 eastward from SihuiSihuiSihui , historically known as Szewui, is a county-level city of Guangdong Province, in southern China, under the jurisdiction of Zhaoqing. Population: 80,000....
to suburban Tongzhou District. - Changping LineChangping Line, Beijing SubwayThe Changping Line of the Beijing Subway is a rapid transit subway line in northern Beijing. The line opened on December 30, 2010 and currently runs run north from the Xi'erqi station on Line 13 to Nanshao...
branches off Line 13 at Xi'erqi and runs north to suburban Changping DistrictChangping DistrictChangping District , formerly Changping County , is situated in the suburbs of northwest Beijing.Changping District, covering an area of 1,430 square kilometers, has 2 subdistricts of the city of Changping and 15 towns with total population of 614,821...
. - Daxing LineDaxing Line, Beijing SubwayThe Daxing Line of the Beijing Subway is a light rail line that connects the southern Daxing District of the city with the subway network. It extends Line 4 south from its southern terminus at Majialou, on the 4th Ring Road in Fengtai District, to Nanzhao Lu, beyond the 6th Ring Road in Daxing...
extends Line 4 south to suburban Daxing DistrictDaxing DistrictDaxing District is a suburb of Beijing, situated to the south of the city.-Overview:...
. - Fangshan LineFangshan Line, Beijing SubwayThe Fangshan Line of the Beijing Subway is a subway line in western Beijing. The line runs north and east from Suzhuang Dajie in Fangshan District to Guogongzhuang in Fengtai District, where it will connect with the southern terminus of Line 9, currently under construction...
is currently a stand alone line in southwest Beijing that connects Dabaotai in Fengtai District with suburban Fangshan District. It will be linked to the subway network with the completion of Line 9Line 9, Beijing SubwayLine 9 of the Beijing Subway is rapid transit line currently under construction in western Beijing. The line will run 16.5 km from the National Library in Haidian District in the north to Guogongzhuang in Fengtai District in the south, and have 13 stations. Construction began in April 2007...
in 2012. - Yizhuang LineYizhuang Line, Beijing SubwayThe Yizhuang Line of the Beijing Subway , formerly designated Line L2, is a light rail line that connects the Yizhuang Industrial Park with Beijing's subway network. The line is long with 14 stations, including six underground and eight on the surface...
extends from Line 5's southern terminus to the Yizhuang Economic & Technological Development Zone in the southeastern suburbs. - Airport Express connects the Beijing Capital International AirportBeijing Capital International AirportBeijing Capital International Airport, is the main international airport serving Beijing, China. It is located northeast of Beijing's city center in an enclave of Chaoyang District that is surrounded by rural Shunyi District. The airport is owned and operated by the Beijing Capital...
, 27 km northeast of the city, with Line 10 at Sanyuanqiao and Lines 2 and 13 at Dongzhimen.
Lines under construction
In addition to 14 lines in operation, there are at least eight lines now under construction with work on several more lines set to begin in 2011. In 2011, sections of Line 6 (between Caofang and Hujialou), Line 8 (between Huilongguan East and South Gate of Forest Park), Line 9 (between Guogongzhuang and Liuliqiao) and Line 10 (between Chedaogou and Bagou) may open ahead of schedule.The new lines will significantly expand the subway's coverage, especially south and west of the city. Line 9
Line 9, Beijing Subway
Line 9 of the Beijing Subway is rapid transit line currently under construction in western Beijing. The line will run 16.5 km from the National Library in Haidian District in the north to Guogongzhuang in Fengtai District in the south, and have 13 stations. Construction began in April 2007...
and Line 16
Line 16, Beijing Subway
Line 16 of the Beijing Subway is a rapid transit rail line under planning in Beijing. It will be a north-south route in far western Beijing, west of the current Line 4, Beijing Subway. According to tentative plans unveiled in December 2010, Line 16 will run 23 km from the Suzhoujie Station on Line...
will run parallel and to the west of Line 4. Flanking either side of Line 1 will be Line 6
Line 6, Beijing Subway
Line 6 of the Beijing Subway is currently under construction and is scheduled to be opened in December 28, 2012. The line will run parallel to and north of Line 1 and the Batong Line, from Shijingshan to Tongzhou District. It may be the first of Beijing's subway lines to feature express and local...
and Line 7
Line 7, Beijing Subway
Line 7 of the Beijing Subway is a rapid transit rail line under construction in Beijing. It is planned to run parallel and to the south of Line 1 and Batong Line, from the Beijing West Railway Station in Xuanwu District to Jiaohuachang in Tongzhou District...
. Line 10, when fully completed, will form a second ring outside the Line 2 loop. Line 8
Line 8, Beijing Subway
Line 8 of the Beijing Subway , also known as the Olympic Branch Line , is the shortest of Beijing's subway lines currently in operation. It connects Beijing's Olympic village, called the Olympic Green, with Line 10, north of the city centre, in Chaoyang District. The line spans just 4.53 km, and...
will extend the Olympic Branch Line north to Line 13 and south to Line 2. Line 14
Line 14, Beijing Subway
Line 14 of the Beijing Subway is a rapid transit rail line under construction in Beijing. It will run across the southern and eastern fringes of Beijing from the Dongheyan Lu on the west bank of the Yongding River in the southwest corner of the city to Laiguangying in the northeast corner. It will...
will run from the southwest to the northeast. The Western Suburban
Western Suburban Line, Beijing Subway
The Western Suburban Line of the Beijing Subway , also called the Western Suburban Branch Line is a rapid transit line planned to be built in Haidian District of Beijing. It will run west and north from Bagou on Line 10 to the Fragrant Hills. The total line length is estimated to be 9.3 km...
and Yanfang Line
Yanfang Line, Beijing Subway
Yanfang Line of the Beijing Subway is a rapid transit rail line under planning in Beijing. The planned route contains 12 stations in total. Construction is scheduled to commence in September 2011.- Route :...
s will connect outlying districts to the Beijing Subway.
| Sched. opening |
Line | Phase & Section | Terminals (District) | Route Description | Construction since |
Length (km) |
Stations |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dec. 2011 |
Line 8 Line 8, Beijing Subway Line 8 of the Beijing Subway , also known as the Olympic Branch Line , is the shortest of Beijing's subway lines currently in operation. It connects Beijing's Olympic village, called the Olympic Green, with Line 10, north of the city centre, in Chaoyang District. The line spans just 4.53 km, and... |
Phase II North Section |
Huilongguan East (Changping Changping District Changping District , formerly Changping County , is situated in the suburbs of northwest Beijing.Changping District, covering an area of 1,430 square kilometers, has 2 subdistricts of the city of Changping and 15 towns with total population of 614,821... ) – South gate of Forest Park South Gate of Forest Park Station South Gate of Forest Park Station is a station on Line 8 of the Beijing Subway in China.-See also:*Olympic Forest Park... (Chaoyang Chaoyang District Chaoyang District may refer to:*Chaoyang District, Beijing, district in Beijing*Chaoyang District, Changchun, district in Changchun, Jilin*Chaoyang District, Shantou, district in Shantou, Guangdong... ) |
Extends Olympic Branch Line north to Line 13 | Dec. 2007 | 10.7 | 6 |
| Line 9 Line 9, Beijing Subway Line 9 of the Beijing Subway is rapid transit line currently under construction in western Beijing. The line will run 16.5 km from the National Library in Haidian District in the north to Guogongzhuang in Fengtai District in the south, and have 13 stations. Construction began in April 2007... |
South Section | Beijing West Railway Station Beijing west railway station Beijing West Railway Station, also known as Beijing West or West Passenger Station is located in western Beijing's Fengtai District. Opened in early 1996 after three years of construction, it was the largest railway station in Asia with 510,000m². The station serves in average 150,000–180,000... (Xuanwu) - Guogongzhuang (Fengtai Fengtai District Fengtai District is a suburban district of the municipality of Beijing. It lies to the southwest of the urban core of the city.-History:In Qing Dynasty times, Fengtai was where the Imperial Manchu Army had its camps, trained, and held parades on festive occasions.It is 304.2 square kilometers in... ) |
Connects Fangshan Line Fangshan Line, Beijing Subway The Fangshan Line of the Beijing Subway is a subway line in western Beijing. The line runs north and east from Suzhuang Dajie in Fangshan District to Guogongzhuang in Fengtai District, where it will connect with the southern terminus of Line 9, currently under construction... to Beijing West Railway Station Beijing west railway station Beijing West Railway Station, also known as Beijing West or West Passenger Station is located in western Beijing's Fengtai District. Opened in early 1996 after three years of construction, it was the largest railway station in Asia with 510,000m². The station serves in average 150,000–180,000... |
Apr. 2007 | 10.8 | 9 | |
| Line 15 Line 15, Beijing Subway Line 15 of the Beijing Subway is a rapid transit rail line in northern Beijing with one portion in operation and the remainder under construction.... |
Phase I Section 2 |
Houshayu - Fengbo | Shunyi Shunyi District Shunyi District is an administrative district of Beijing, located outside of the city proper.-Overview:... section of Line 15 (eastern section) |
Apr. 2009 | 10 | 4 | |
| Fangshan Line Fangshan Line, Beijing Subway The Fangshan Line of the Beijing Subway is a subway line in western Beijing. The line runs north and east from Suzhuang Dajie in Fangshan District to Guogongzhuang in Fengtai District, where it will connect with the southern terminus of Line 9, currently under construction... |
Dabaotai Dabaotai Station Dabaotai station is a station on Fangshan Line of the Beijing Subway.... - Guogongzhuang (Fengtai Fengtai District Fengtai District is a suburban district of the municipality of Beijing. It lies to the southwest of the urban core of the city.-History:In Qing Dynasty times, Fengtai was where the Imperial Manchu Army had its camps, trained, and held parades on festive occasions.It is 304.2 square kilometers in... ) |
Connects Fangshan Line Fangshan Line, Beijing Subway The Fangshan Line of the Beijing Subway is a subway line in western Beijing. The line runs north and east from Suzhuang Dajie in Fangshan District to Guogongzhuang in Fengtai District, where it will connect with the southern terminus of Line 9, currently under construction... to Line 9 Line 9, Beijing Subway Line 9 of the Beijing Subway is rapid transit line currently under construction in western Beijing. The line will run 16.5 km from the National Library in Haidian District in the north to Guogongzhuang in Fengtai District in the south, and have 13 stations. Construction began in April 2007... |
Apr. 2009 | 2.6 | 1 | ||
| Sept. 2012 | Line 9 Line 9, Beijing Subway Line 9 of the Beijing Subway is rapid transit line currently under construction in western Beijing. The line will run 16.5 km from the National Library in Haidian District in the north to Guogongzhuang in Fengtai District in the south, and have 13 stations. Construction began in April 2007... |
North Section | National Library National Library Station National Library Station is a subway station on Line 4 of the Beijing Subway in China.... (Haidian) - Beijing West Railway Station Beijing west railway station Beijing West Railway Station, also known as Beijing West or West Passenger Station is located in western Beijing's Fengtai District. Opened in early 1996 after three years of construction, it was the largest railway station in Asia with 510,000m². The station serves in average 150,000–180,000... |
Extends north to Line 4 Line 4, Beijing Subway Line 4 of the Beijing Subway is the 9th subway line in Beijing's mass transit network. It entered into operation on September 28, 2009, and runs from north to south, parallel and to the west of Line 5, through Haidian, Xicheng, Xuanwu and Fengtai Districts in the western half of the city. It is... |
Apr. 2007 | 5.7 | 4 |
| Line 10 Line 10, Beijing Subway Line 10 of the Beijing Subway is the second loop line in Beijing's rapid transit network.Half of the Line 10 loop, north and east of the city centre, has been in operation since July 19, 2008. The other half of the loop, in the south and west, is now under construction. In the north, south and... |
Phase II | Jinsong Station (Chaoyang Chaoyang District Chaoyang District may refer to:*Chaoyang District, Beijing, district in Beijing*Chaoyang District, Changchun, district in Changchun, Jilin*Chaoyang District, Shantou, district in Shantou, Guangdong... ) - Bagou Station (Haidian) |
"L"-shaped route completing the Line 10 loop to the south and west. | Apr. 2007 | 32.5 | 24 | |
| Dec. 2012 | Line 8 Line 8, Beijing Subway Line 8 of the Beijing Subway , also known as the Olympic Branch Line , is the shortest of Beijing's subway lines currently in operation. It connects Beijing's Olympic village, called the Olympic Green, with Line 10, north of the city centre, in Chaoyang District. The line spans just 4.53 km, and... |
Phase II North Extension South Section |
Zhuxinzhuang Zhuxinzhuang Station Zhuxinzhuang station is a station on Changping Line of the Beijing Subway. It is a planned cross-platform interchange with Line 8, which will extend to here before 2013... - Huilongguan East (Changping Changping District Changping District , formerly Changping County , is situated in the suburbs of northwest Beijing.Changping District, covering an area of 1,430 square kilometers, has 2 subdistricts of the city of Changping and 15 towns with total population of 614,821... ) Beitucheng Beitucheng Station ' is an interchange station on Line 8 and Line 10 of the Beijing Subway in China.... (Chaoyang Chaoyang District Chaoyang District may refer to:*Chaoyang District, Beijing, district in Beijing*Chaoyang District, Changchun, district in Changchun, Jilin*Chaoyang District, Shantou, district in Shantou, Guangdong... ) – Museum of Art National Art Museum of China The National Art Museum of China, or NAMOC is located at 1 Wusi Ave, Dongcheng District of Beijing, People's Republic of China. It is one of the largest art museums in China. The construction of the museum started in 1958, and concluded in 1962. It has a total land area of 30,000 square meters... (Dongcheng Dongcheng District Dongcheng District may refer to the following two districts in China:*Dongcheng District, Beijing, district in Beijing*Dongcheng District, Dongguan, district in Dongguan, Guangdong... ) |
Extends further north to Changping Line Changping Line, Beijing Subway The Changping Line of the Beijing Subway is a rapid transit subway line in northern Beijing. The line opened on December 30, 2010 and currently runs run north from the Xi'erqi station on Line 13 to Nanshao... and south to Drum Tower and National Art Museum inside Line 2 |
Dec. 2007 | 5.9 6.8 |
2 6 |
| Line 6 Line 6, Beijing Subway Line 6 of the Beijing Subway is currently under construction and is scheduled to be opened in December 28, 2012. The line will run parallel to and north of Line 1 and the Batong Line, from Shijingshan to Tongzhou District. It may be the first of Beijing's subway lines to feature express and local... |
Phase I | Haidian Wuluju (Haidian) - Caofang (Tongzhou Tongzhou District Tongzhou District is a district of Beijing, the capital of People's Republic of China. It is located in southeast Beijing and considered the eastern gateway to the Chinese capital... ) |
east-west line north of Line 1 | Apr. 2008 | 31 | 20 | |
| 2013 | Line 14 Line 14, Beijing Subway Line 14 of the Beijing Subway is a rapid transit rail line under construction in Beijing. It will run across the southern and eastern fringes of Beijing from the Dongheyan Lu on the west bank of the Yongding River in the southwest corner of the city to Laiguangying in the northeast corner. It will... |
Phase I | Zhangguozhuang (Fengtai Fengtai District Fengtai District is a suburban district of the municipality of Beijing. It lies to the southwest of the urban core of the city.-History:In Qing Dynasty times, Fengtai was where the Imperial Manchu Army had its camps, trained, and held parades on festive occasions.It is 304.2 square kilometers in... ) - Xiju |
J-shaped line, from the southwest corner of the city to the southeast corner, through Beijing South Station Beijing south railway station The current Beijing South Railway Station is a large railway station on the south side of Beijing that opened on August 1, 2008. The new station replaced the old Beijing South Station, first known as the Majiapu Railway Station and later known as the Yongdingmen Railway Station before 1988, which... and then turning north to Guangqu Lu. |
Apr. 2010 | 47.7 | 36 |
| 2014 | Phase II | Xiju - Shangezhuang (Chaoyang Chaoyang District Chaoyang District may refer to:*Chaoyang District, Beijing, district in Beijing*Chaoyang District, Changchun, district in Changchun, Jilin*Chaoyang District, Shantou, district in Shantou, Guangdong... ) |
|||||
| Line 7 Line 7, Beijing Subway Line 7 of the Beijing Subway is a rapid transit rail line under construction in Beijing. It is planned to run parallel and to the south of Line 1 and Batong Line, from the Beijing West Railway Station in Xuanwu District to Jiaohuachang in Tongzhou District... |
Beijing West Railway Station Beijing west railway station Beijing West Railway Station, also known as Beijing West or West Passenger Station is located in western Beijing's Fengtai District. Opened in early 1996 after three years of construction, it was the largest railway station in Asia with 510,000m². The station serves in average 150,000–180,000... - Jiaohuachang (Tongzhou Tongzhou District Tongzhou District is a district of Beijing, the capital of People's Republic of China. It is located in southeast Beijing and considered the eastern gateway to the Chinese capital... ) |
east-west line south of Line 1 | Jan. 2010 | 23.9 | 21 | ||
| Line 15 Line 15, Beijing Subway Line 15 of the Beijing Subway is a rapid transit rail line in northern Beijing with one portion in operation and the remainder under construction.... |
Phase I Section 3 |
Beishatan - Wangjing West Wangjing West Station ' is an interchange station between Lines 13 and 15 on the Beijing Subway. The underground platform on Line 15 serves as the current western terminus of the line until the line extends west in 2013.... |
Chaoyang Chaoyang District, Beijing Chaoyang District is a district of Beijing, China.Chaoyang is home to the majority of Beijing's many foreign embassies, the well-known Sanlitun bar street, as well as Beijing's growing CBD. The Olympic Park, built for the 2008 Summer Olympics, is also in Chaoyang... section of Line 15 (western section) |
Apr. 2009 | 7 | 5 |
Lines awaiting construction
The following lines have been identified in expansion plans for the Beijing Subway and are awaiting commencement of construction. All are scheduled to be completed by 2015, except Line 16Line 16, Beijing Subway
Line 16 of the Beijing Subway is a rapid transit rail line under planning in Beijing. It will be a north-south route in far western Beijing, west of the current Line 4, Beijing Subway. According to tentative plans unveiled in December 2010, Line 16 will run 23 km from the Suzhoujie Station on Line...
.
| Line | Terminals (District) | Route Description | Planning Status |
Length (km) |
Stations |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Line 6 Line 6, Beijing Subway Line 6 of the Beijing Subway is currently under construction and is scheduled to be opened in December 28, 2012. The line will run parallel to and north of Line 1 and the Batong Line, from Shijingshan to Tongzhou District. It may be the first of Beijing's subway lines to feature express and local... Phase II |
Cangfang - Dongxiaoying (Tongzhou Tongzhou District Tongzhou District is a district of Beijing, the capital of People's Republic of China. It is located in southeast Beijing and considered the eastern gateway to the Chinese capital... ) |
extends Line 6 further east into Tongzhou District. | Const. to begin in 2010; completion by 2015 | 11.64 | 7 |
| Line 14 Line 14, Beijing Subway Line 14 of the Beijing Subway is a rapid transit rail line under construction in Beijing. It will run across the southern and eastern fringes of Beijing from the Dongheyan Lu on the west bank of the Yongding River in the southwest corner of the city to Laiguangying in the northeast corner. It will... Phase II |
Guangqu Lu - Laiguangying (Chaoyang Chaoyang District Chaoyang District may refer to:*Chaoyang District, Beijing, district in Beijing*Chaoyang District, Changchun, district in Changchun, Jilin*Chaoyang District, Shantou, district in Shantou, Guangdong... ) |
extends eastern leg of Line 14 from Guangqu Lu north, through Chaoyang Park Chaoyang Park Beijing Chaoyang Park is a park located on the site of the former Prince's Palace in Beijing's Chaoyang District.The park's construction began in 1984 with it eventually growing to become Beijing's largest park. It is approximately 2.8 km in length and approximately 1.5 km in width. It has a total... and Wangjing Wangjing Wangjing may refer to:*Wangjing, Beijing , residential area in Beijing, China*Wangjing, Manipur, town and a nagar panchayat in Manipur, India*Wangjing, Tang County , town in Tang County, Hebei, China... to Laiguangying, just beyond the NE corner of the 5th Ring Road. |
to be built by 2014 |
17.7 | 14 |
| Line 15 Line 15, Beijing Subway Line 15 of the Beijing Subway is a rapid transit rail line in northern Beijing with one portion in operation and the remainder under construction.... Phase II |
Summer Palace Summer Palace The Summer Palace is a palace in Beijing, China. The Summer Palace is mainly dominated by Longevity Hill and the Kunming Lake. It covers an expanse of 2.9 square kilometers, three quarters of which is water.... (Haidian) -Beishatan (Chaoyang Chaoyang District Chaoyang District may refer to:*Chaoyang District, Beijing, district in Beijing*Chaoyang District, Changchun, district in Changchun, Jilin*Chaoyang District, Shantou, district in Shantou, Guangdong... ) |
east-west line between the 4th and 5th Ring Roads north of the city from Old Summer Palace Old Summer Palace The Old Summer Palace, known in China as Yuan Ming Yuan , and originally called the Imperial Gardens, was a complex of palaces and gardens in Beijing... through Tsinghua University Tsinghua University Tsinghua University , colloquially known in Chinese as Qinghua, is a university in Beijing, China. The school is one of the nine universities of the C9 League. It was established in 1911 under the name "Tsinghua Xuetang" or "Tsinghua College" and was renamed the "Tsinghua School" one year later... , Zhongguancun Zhongguancun Zhongguancun , or Zhong Guan Cun, is a technology hub in Haidian District, Beijing, China.It is geographically situated in the northwestern part of Beijing city, in a band between the northwestern Third Ring Road and the northwestern Fourth Ring Road... , and the Olympic Green Olympic Green The Olympic Green is an Olympic Park in Beijing, China constructed for the 2008 Summer Olympics. Since then, the streets around the park have been used for an exhibition street race of the FIA GT1 World Championship in 2011, after a race at Goldenport Park Circuit in the vicinity.- Beijing... . |
to be built by 2015 |
9.3 | 6 |
| Line 16 Line 16, Beijing Subway Line 16 of the Beijing Subway is a rapid transit rail line under planning in Beijing. It will be a north-south route in far western Beijing, west of the current Line 4, Beijing Subway. According to tentative plans unveiled in December 2010, Line 16 will run 23 km from the Suzhoujie Station on Line... |
Suzhoujie Suzhoujie Station Suzhoujie Station is a subway station on Line 10 of the Beijing Subway in China.... (Haidian) - Yushuzhuang (Fengtai Fengtai District Fengtai District is a suburban district of the municipality of Beijing. It lies to the southwest of the urban core of the city.-History:In Qing Dynasty times, Fengtai was where the Imperial Manchu Army had its camps, trained, and held parades on festive occasions.It is 304.2 square kilometers in... ) |
north-south line west of Line 4. | - | 23 | - |
| Changping Line Changping Line, Beijing Subway The Changping Line of the Beijing Subway is a rapid transit subway line in northern Beijing. The line opened on December 30, 2010 and currently runs run north from the Xi'erqi station on Line 13 to Nanshao... Phase II |
Nanshao - Ming Tombs Scenic Area (Changping Changping District Changping District , formerly Changping County , is situated in the suburbs of northwest Beijing.Changping District, covering an area of 1,430 square kilometers, has 2 subdistricts of the city of Changping and 15 towns with total population of 614,821... ) |
extends Changping Line to Ming Tombs. | Const. to begin in 2010; completion by the end of 2012 | 10 | 4 or 5 |
| Western Suburban Line Western Suburban Line, Beijing Subway The Western Suburban Line of the Beijing Subway , also called the Western Suburban Branch Line is a rapid transit line planned to be built in Haidian District of Beijing. It will run west and north from Bagou on Line 10 to the Fragrant Hills. The total line length is estimated to be 9.3 km... |
Bagou - Fragrant Hills (Haidian) |
light rail or tram from present-day northwest terminus of Line 10 to the Fragrant Hills Fragrant Hills Fragrant Hills Park is a public park at the foot of the Western Mountains in the Haidian District, in the northwestern part of Beijing, China. It covers 1.6 km² and consists of a natural pine-cypress forest, hills with maple trees, smoke trees and persimmon trees, as well as landscaped areas with... . |
To be built by 2014 | 9.3 | 5 |
| Yanfang Line | Yanshan Sinopec Center & Zhoukoudian Village - Suzhuang (Fangshan Fangshan District Fangshan District is situated in the southwest of Beijing, 38 km away from the downtown Beijing. It has an area of 2,019 square kilometers and a population of 814,367... ) |
western extension of Fangshan Line to the Yanshan Sinopec Center, with branch line to Zhoukoudian Zhoukoudian Zhoukoudian or Choukoutien is a cave system in Beijing, China. It has yielded many archaeological discoveries, including one of the first specimens of Homo erectus, dubbed Peking Man, and a fine assemblage of bones of the gigantic hyena Pachycrocuta brevirostris... . |
Const. to begin in 2011; completion by 2013 | 21.2 | 23 |
Lines under planning
To address the city's worsening traffic congestion problem, in December 2010 city planners moved the construction of several lines from the 13th Five Year Plan to the 12th Five Year Plan. This means Lines 8 (Phase III)Line 8, Beijing Subway
Line 8 of the Beijing Subway , also known as the Olympic Branch Line , is the shortest of Beijing's subway lines currently in operation. It connects Beijing's Olympic village, called the Olympic Green, with Line 10, north of the city centre, in Chaoyang District. The line spans just 4.53 km, and...
, 3, 12
Line 12, Beijing Subway
Line 12 of the Beijing Subway is a rapid transit rail line under planning in Beijing. Construction is scheduled to begin before 2015.-History:Line 12's route has undergone substantial changes on the planners' drawing board....
, 16
Line 16, Beijing Subway
Line 16 of the Beijing Subway is a rapid transit rail line under planning in Beijing. It will be a north-south route in far western Beijing, west of the current Line 4, Beijing Subway. According to tentative plans unveiled in December 2010, Line 16 will run 23 km from the Suzhoujie Station on Line...
, the Yanfang Line, as well as additional lines to Changping, Tiantongyuan
Tiantongyuan
Tiantongyuan is an apartment complex and neighborhood in northern Beijing's Changping District. As of April 2008 it was reported to have over 400,000 residents, and is one of the largest such complexes in Beijing...
, and Haidian will begin construction before 2015. Subway planning authorities had indicated that Lines 3, 11, 12 and 16 were being planned for the more distant future.
In January 2010, the government of Shijingshan District
Shijingshan District
Shijingshan District is an urban district of the municipality of Beijing. It lies to the west of the urban core of Beijing, and is part of the Western Hills area...
disclosed plans for a Line 11 in western Beijing that would traverse the Beijing Capital Steel
Shougang
Shougang is one of the Chinese largest steel company. Based in Beijing municipality, its operations are being moved out of the city prior to the Olympics due to major pollution concerns....
complex and intersect with Lines 1 and 4. Construction is set to begin in 2020. Line 17 is planned to run underneath Guanghua Road in the Central Business District with transfers to Lines 4 and 5.
Beijing Suburban Railway
The Beijing Suburban RailwayBeijing Suburban Railway
Beijing Suburban Railway or BCR is a commuter rail service that connects urban Beijing with outlying districts and counties beyond the reach of the city's Beijing Subway network...
is a mass transit rail system that complements the subway and provides commuter train service to outlying suburban districts and counties. Six "S"-numbered lines have been planned. The Beijing Suburban Railway is managed separately from the subway and has a different fare structure. Line S2, opened August 6, 2008, runs from the Beijing North Railway Station
Beijing North Railway Station
Beijing North Railway Station , formerly known as Xizhimen Railway Station , is a railway station in Beijing, China. It was built in 1905 as one of the original stations on the Jingzhang Railway, now part of the old Beijing-Baotou Line....
to Yanqing County
Yanqing County
Yanqing County is a subdivision of the municipality of Beijing located northwest of the city proper of Beijing...
, and provides direct urban rail access to the Great Wall at Badaling
Badaling
Badaling is the site of the most visited section of the Great Wall of China, approximately northwest of urban Beijing city in Yanqing County, which is within the Beijing municipality. The portion of the wall running through the site was built during the Ming Dynasty, along with a military...
. The Beijing North Station is located near the subway stop at Xizhimen (Subway Lines 2, 4, 13)
Xizhimen Station
Xizhimen Station is an interchange station for Line 2, Line 4 and Line 13 of the Beijing Subway. Just outside of this station is Beijing North Railway Station....
. Line S1 will channel riders from Mentougou District
Mentougou District
Mentougou District is in west Beijing.Spanning 1,321 square kilometres, with 266,591 inhabitants , it is subdivided into 4 subdistricts of the city proper of Beijing and 9 towns ....
west of the city to Pingguoyuan
Pingguoyuan Station
Pingguoyuan Station is a station on Line 1 of the Beijing Subway. It is the western terminus of Line 1....
and Wulu, the western terminus of Line 1
Line 1, Beijing Subway
Line 1 of the Beijing Subway is the longest, oldest and busiest line of Beijing's mass transit rail network. It runs underneath Chang'an Avenue, the city's grand east-west thoroughfare, right through the heart of Beijing with stops on either side of Tiananmen Square...
and Line 6
Line 6, Beijing Subway
Line 6 of the Beijing Subway is currently under construction and is scheduled to be opened in December 28, 2012. The line will run parallel to and north of Line 1 and the Batong Line, from Shijingshan to Tongzhou District. It may be the first of Beijing's subway lines to feature express and local...
.
History
1953–1965: origins
The Beijing Subway was proposed in September 1953 by the city's planning committee and experts from the Soviet UnionSoviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
. After the end of the Korean War
Korean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
, Chinese leaders turned their attention to domestic reconstruction. They were keen to expand Beijing's mass transit capacity but also valued the subway as an asset for civil defense. They studied the use of the Moscow Metro
Moscow Metro
The Moscow Metro is a rapid transit system serving Moscow and the neighbouring town of Krasnogorsk. Opened in 1935 with one line and 13 stations, it was the first underground railway system in the Soviet Union. As of 2011, the Moscow Metro has 182 stations and its route length is . The system is...
to protect civilians, move troops and headquarter military command posts during the Battle of Moscow
Battle of Moscow
The Battle of Moscow is the name given by Soviet historians to two periods of strategically significant fighting on a sector of the Eastern Front during World War II. It took place between October 1941 and January 1942. The Soviet defensive effort frustrated Hitler's attack on Moscow, capital of...
, and planned the Beijing Subway for both civilian and military use.
The Chinese lacked expertise in building subways and drew heavily on Soviet and East German technical assistance. In 1954, a delegation of Soviet engineers, including some who had built the Moscow Metro, was invited to plan the subway in Beijing. From 1953 to 1960, several thousand Chinese students were sent to the Soviet Union to study subway construction. An early plan unveiled in 1957 called for one ring route and six other lines with a total of 114 stations and 172 km (106.9 mi) of tracks. Two routes vied for the first to be built. One ran east-west from Wukesong to Hongmiao, underneath Changan Avenue. The other ran north-south from the Summer Palace to Zhongshan Park
Zhongshan Park
Zhongshan Park is a common name of Chinese parks, in honour of Sun Yat-sen, better-known in Chinese as Sun Zhongshan, who is considered by many to be the "Father of modern China"...
, via Xizhimen and Xisi. The former was chosen due to more favorable geological foundation and greater number of government bureaus served. The second route would not be built until construction on Line 4 began forty years later.
The deterioration of relations between China and Soviet Union
Sino-Soviet split
In political science, the term Sino–Soviet split denotes the worsening of political and ideologic relations between the People's Republic of China and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics during the Cold War...
disrupted subway planning. Soviet experts began to leave in 1960, and were completely withdrawn by 1963. In 1961, the entire project was halted temporarily due to severe hardships caused by the Great Leap Forward
Great Leap Forward
The Great Leap Forward of the People's Republic of China was an economic and social campaign of the Communist Party of China , reflected in planning decisions from 1958 to 1961, which aimed to use China's vast population to rapidly transform the country from an agrarian economy into a modern...
. Eventually, planning work resumed. The route of the initial line was shifted westward to create an underground conduit to move personnel from the heart of the capital to the Western Hills. On February 4, 1965, Chairman Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong, also transliterated as Mao Tse-tung , and commonly referred to as Chairman Mao , was a Chinese Communist revolutionary, guerrilla warfare strategist, Marxist political philosopher, and leader of the Chinese Revolution...
personally approved the project.
1965–1981: the slow beginning
Zhu De
Zhu De was a Chinese militarist, politician, revolutionary, and one of the pioneers of the Chinese Communist Party. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, in 1955 Zhu became one of the Ten Marshals of the People's Liberation Army, of which he is regarded as the founder.-Early...
, Deng Xiaoping
Deng Xiaoping
Deng Xiaoping was a Chinese politician, statesman, and diplomat. As leader of the Communist Party of China, Deng was a reformer who led China towards a market economy...
, and mayor Peng Zhen
Peng Zhen
Peng Zhen was a leading member of the Communist Party of China.-Biography:Born in Houma , Peng was originally named Fu Maogong....
. The most controversial outcome of the initial subway line was the demolition of the Beijing's historic inner city wall to make way for the subway. Construction plans for the subway from Fuxingmen to the Beijing Railway Station called for the removal of the wall, as well as the gates and archery towers at Hepingmen, Qianmen, and Chongwenmen. Leading architect Liang Sicheng
Liang Sicheng
Liang Sicheng was the son of Liang Qichao, a well-known Chinese thinker in the late Qing Dynasty. Liang Sicheng returned to China from the United States after studying at the University of Pennsylvania...
argued for protecting the wall as a landmark of the ancient capital. Chairman Mao favored demolishing the wall over demolishing homes. In the end, Premier Zhou Enlai
Zhou Enlai
Zhou Enlai was the first Premier of the People's Republic of China, serving from October 1949 until his death in January 1976...
managed to preserve several walls and gates, such as the Qianmen gate and its arrow tower by slightly altering the course of the subway.
The initial line was completed in time to mark the 20th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic
National Day of the People's Republic of China
The National Day of the People's Republic of China is celebrated every year on October 1. It is a public holiday in the People's Republic of China to celebrate their national day.The PRC was founded on October 1, 1949 with a ceremony at Tiananmen Square...
on October 1, 1969. It ran 21 km from the army barracks at Fushouling to the Beijing Railway Station
Beijing railway station
Beijing Railway Station is one of Beijing's railway stations, opened in the 1950s, as can be seen from its architecture . It is located in the city's central location, just next to Jianguomen, and is within the confines of the city's 2nd Ring Road...
and had 16 stations. This line forms parts of present-day Lines 1 and 2. It was the first subway to be built in China, and predates the metros of Hong Kong
MTR
Mass Transit Railway is the rapid transit railway system in Hong Kong. Originally opened in 1979, the system now includes 211.6 km of rail with 155 stations, including 86 railway stations and 69 light rail stops...
, Seoul, Singapore
Mass Rapid Transit (Singapore)
The Mass Rapid Transit or MRT is a rapid transit system that forms the backbone of the railway system in Singapore, spanning the entire city-state. The initial section of the MRT, between Yio Chu Kang Station and Toa Payoh Station, opened in 1987 establishing itself as the second-oldest metro...
, San Francisco
Muni Metro
Muni Metro is a light rail system serving San Francisco, California, operated by the San Francisco Municipal Railway , a division of the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency...
, and Washington, D.C.
Washington Metro
The Washington Metro, commonly called Metro, and unofficially Metrorail, is the rapid transit system in Washington, D.C., United States, and its surrounding suburbs. It is administered by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority , which also operates Metrobus service under the Metro name...
, but technical problems would plague the project for the next decade.
On November 11, 1969, an electrical fire killed three people, injured over 100 and destroyed two cars. Premier Zhou Enlai
Zhou Enlai
Zhou Enlai was the first Premier of the People's Republic of China, serving from October 1949 until his death in January 1976...
placed the subway under the control of the People’s Liberation Army in 1970, but reliability problems persisted. On January 15, 1971, the initial line began operation on a trial basis between the Beijing Railway Station and Gongzhufen
Gongzhufen
Gongzhufen is a major traffic and public transportation hub in the Haidian District of western Beijing, China. The name literally means "Tomb of the Princess"....
. Single ride fare was set at ¥
Renminbi
The Renminbi is the official currency of the People's Republic of China . Renminbi is legal tender in mainland China, but not in Hong Kong or Macau. It is issued by the People's Bank of China, the monetary authority of the PRC...
0.10 and only members of the public with credential letters from their work units were permitted entry into the subway. The line delivered 8.28 million rides in 1971 but remained under trial operation throughout the Cultural Revolution. From 1971 to 1975, the subway was shut down for 398 days for political reasons. Despite its return to civilian control in 1976, the subway remained prone to closures due to fires, flooding, and accidents.
1981–2000: two lines for two decades
On September 15, 1981, after a decade of trial operation, the initial line was finally opened to full public use. It had 19 stations and ran 27.6 km (17.1 mi) from Fushouling in the Western HillsWestern Hills
The Western Hills refers to the hills and mountains in the western part of Beijing.- Geography :Being an extension of the Taihang mountain range from Hebei Province, the Western Hills cover about 17% of Beijing municipality including most of Mentougou and Fangshan Districts as well as parts of...
to the Beijing Railway Station. Investment in the project totaled ¥706 million. The subway was placed under the management of the Beijing Subway Company, then a subsidiary of the Beijing Public Transportation Company. Annual ridership reached 72.5 million in 1982.
Fuxingmen
Fuxingmen is a road situated in central Beijing and on the northwestern stretch of the 2nd Ring Road.Fuxingmen means "Gate of Revival". An overpass over the ring road exists with the same name....
to Jianguomen
Jianguomen
Jianguomen is a major transportation hub in Beijing.Flanked by Jianguomen Inner Street to the west, Jianguomen Outer Street to the east, the Eastern 2nd Ring Road runs through it in a north-south direction....
with 16 stations. Ridership reached 105 million in 1985. On December 28, 1987, the two existing lines were reconfigured into Lines 1, which ran from Pingguoyuan
Pingguoyuan Station
Pingguoyuan Station is a station on Line 1 of the Beijing Subway. It is the western terminus of Line 1....
to Fuxingmen and Line 2, in its current loop, tracing the Ming
Ming Dynasty
The Ming Dynasty, also Empire of the Great Ming, was the ruling dynasty of China from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan Dynasty. The Ming, "one of the greatest eras of orderly government and social stability in human history", was the last dynasty in China ruled by ethnic...
city wall. Fares doubled to ¥0.20 for single-line rides and ¥0.30 for rides with transfers. Ridership reached 307 million in 1988. The subway was closed from June 3–4, 1989 during the suppression of the Tiananmen Square demonstrations
Tiananmen Square protests of 1989
The Tiananmen Square protests of 1989, also known as the June Fourth Incident in Chinese , were a series of demonstrations in and near Tiananmen Square in Beijing in the People's Republic of China beginning on 15 April 1989...
. In 1990, the subway carried more than one million riders per day for the first time, as total ridership reached 381 million. After a fare hike to ¥0.50 in 1991, annual ridership declined slightly to 371 million.
On January 26, 1991, planning began on the eastward extension of Line 1 under Chang’an Avenue from Fuxingmen
Fuxingmen
Fuxingmen is a road situated in central Beijing and on the northwestern stretch of the 2nd Ring Road.Fuxingmen means "Gate of Revival". An overpass over the ring road exists with the same name....
. The project was funded by a 19.2 billion yen
Japanese yen
The is the official currency of Japan. It is the third most traded currency in the foreign exchange market after the United States dollar and the euro. It is also widely used as a reserve currency after the U.S. dollar, the euro and the pound sterling...
low-interest development assistance loan
International economic cooperation policy of Japan
Japan emerged as one of the largest foreign aid donors in the world during the 1980s.In 1991 Japan was the second largest foreign aid donor worldwide, behind the United States...
from Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
. Construction began on the eastern extension on June 24, 1992, and the Xidan
Xidan
Xidan is a major traditional commercial area in Beijing, China. It is located in the Xicheng District.The Xidan commercial district incorporates the Xidan Culture Square, North Xidan Street, as well as many supermarkets and department stores...
station opened on December 12, 1992. The remaining extension to Sihui East
Sihui East Station
Sihui East Station is an interchange station on Line 1 and the Batong Line of the Beijing Subway. It is the eastern terminus of Line 1....
was completed on September 28, 1999. National leaders Wen Jiabao
Wen Jiabao
Wen Jiabao is the sixth and current Premier and Party secretary of the State Council of the People's Republic of China, serving as China's head of government and leading its cabinet. In his capacity as Premier, Wen is regarded as the leading figure behind China's economic policy...
, Jia Qinglin
Jia Qinglin
Jia Qinglin is a senior leader of the People's Republic of China. He is the fourth ranking member of the Politburo Standing Committee of the Communist Party of China, the Chairman and Party secretary of the National Committee of the People's Political Consultative Conference. Jia's functions as...
, Yu Zhengsheng
Yu Zhengsheng
Yu Zhengsheng is the current CPC party chief in Shanghai, China, a post which makes him first-in-charge of China's largest city. Formerly the party chief in Hubei, Yu is also concurrently a member of the Politburo, and has been since 2002.- Early life :...
and mayor Liu Qi were on hand to mark the occasion. The full-length of Line 1 became operational on June 28, 2000.
Despite little track expansion in the early 1990s, ridership grew rapidly to reach an all-time high of 558 million in 1995, but fell to 444 million the next year when fares rose from ¥0.50 to ¥2.00. After fares rose again to ¥3.00 in 2000, annual ridership fell to 434 million from 481 million in 1999.
2001–present: rapid expansion
In the summer of 2001, the city won the bid to host the 2008 Summer Olympics2008 Summer Olympics
The 2008 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIX Olympiad, was a major international multi-sport event that took place in Beijing, China, from August 8 to August 24, 2008. A total of 11,028 athletes from 204 National Olympic Committees competed in 28 sports and 302 events...
and accelerated plans to expand the subway. From 2002 and 2008, the city planned to invest ¥63.8 billion (US$7.69 billion) in subway projects. Work on Line 5 had already begun on September 25, 2000. Land clearing for Lines 4 and 10 began in November 2003 and construction commenced by the end of the year. Most new subway construction projects were funded by loans from the Big Four
Big Four (banks)
Big Four is the colloquial name for the four main banks in several countries, where the banking industry is dominated by just four institutions and where the phrase has gained currency.-Australia:...
state banks. Line 4 was funded by the Beijing MTR Corporation, a joint-venture with the Hong Kong MTR
MTR
Mass Transit Railway is the rapid transit railway system in Hong Kong. Originally opened in 1979, the system now includes 211.6 km of rail with 155 stations, including 86 railway stations and 69 light rail stops...
. To achieve plans for 19 lines and 561 km (348.6 mi) by 2015, the city planned to invest a total of ¥200 billion ($29.2 billion).
The next additions to the subway were surface commuter lines that linked to the north and east of the city. Line 13
Line 13, Beijing Subway
Line 13 of the Beijing Subway , also known as the CityRail Line , is a metro line that serves the northern suburbs of Beijing. On a map, Line 13's route is shaped like an inverted U that arcs north of the city and connects residential suburbs in Haidian, Changping and Chaoyang Districts with the...
, a half loop that links the northern suburbs, first opened on the western half from Huilongguan to Xizhimen on September 28, 2002 and the entire line became operational on January 28, 2003. Batong Line, built as an extension to Line 1 to Tongzhou
Tongzhou
Tongzhou may refer to:* Tongzhou, Jiangsu, current Nantong city, a former city in Jiangsu** Tongzhou District, Nantong, in Jiangsu* Tongzhou, Hebei, current Tongzhou District in Beijing, a former city in Hebei* Tongzhou District, Beijing...
district, was opened as a separate line on December 27, 2003. Work on these two lines had begun respectively in December 1999 and 2000. Ridership hit 607 million in 2004.
Line 5
Line 5, Beijing Subway
Line 5 of the Beijing Subway was Beijing's first subway with a north-south route. It runs for 27.6 km, in a near straight line, just east of the city centre from Tiantongyuan North in Changping District to Songjiazhuang in Fengtai District. It entered into operation on October 2007. Line...
came into operation on October 7, 2007. It was the city's first north-south line, extending from the Songjiazhuang in the south to Tiantongyuan
Tiantongyuan
Tiantongyuan is an apartment complex and neighborhood in northern Beijing's Changping District. As of April 2008 it was reported to have over 400,000 residents, and is one of the largest such complexes in Beijing...
in the north. On the same day, subway fares were reduced from between ¥3 and ¥7 per trip, depending on the line and number of transfers, to a single flat fare of ¥2 with unlimited transfers. The lower fare policy caused the Beijing Subway to run a deficit of ¥600 million in 2007, which was expected to widen to ¥1 billion in 2008. The Beijing municipal government covered these deficits to encourage mass transit use, and reduce traffic congestion and air pollution. On a total of 655 million rides delivered in 2007, the government's subsidy averaged ¥0.92 per ride.
In the summer of 2008, in anticipation of the Summer Olympic Games, three new lines—Line 10, the Olympic Branch Line and the Airport Express were opened on July 19 for trial operation. The use of paper tickets, hand checked by clerks for 38 years, was discontinued and replaced by electronic tickets that are scanned by automatic fare collection machines upon entry and exit of the subway. Stations are outfitted with touch screen vending machines that sell single-ride tickets and multiple-ride Yikatong fare cards. The subway set a daily ridership record of 4.92 million on August 22, 2008, the day of the Games' closing ceremony
2008 Summer Olympics closing ceremony
The 2008 Summer Olympics closing ceremony was held at the Beijing National Stadium, also known as the Bird's Nest. It was directed by Chinese filmmaker Zhang Yimou and began at 8:00 pm China Standard Time on August 24, 2008...
In 2008, total ridership rose by 75% to 1.2 billion.
2008 Chinese economic stimulus plan
The 2008–2009 Chinese economic stimulus plan is a RMB¥ 4 trillion stimulus package announced by the central government of the People's Republic of China on 9 November 2008 as an attempt to minimize the impact of the global financial crisis on the world's second largest economy...
, Beijing urban planning commission further expedited subway building plans, especially for surface light rails to suburban districts that are cheaper to build. In December 2008, the commission moved up completion dates of the Yizhuang and Daxing Lines to 2010 from 2012, finalized the route of the Fangshan Line, and unveiled the Changping and Western Suburban Lines.
Line 4
Line 4, Beijing Subway
Line 4 of the Beijing Subway is the 9th subway line in Beijing's mass transit network. It entered into operation on September 28, 2009, and runs from north to south, parallel and to the west of Line 5, through Haidian, Xicheng, Xuanwu and Fengtai Districts in the western half of the city. It is...
entered into operation on September 28, 2009, bringing subway service to much of western Beijing. It is managed by the Hong Kong MTR through a joint venture with the city. In 2009, the subway delivered 1.457 billion rides, which accounted for 19.24% of mass transit trips in Beijing.
On December 30, 2010, Lines 15
Line 15, Beijing Subway
Line 15 of the Beijing Subway is a rapid transit rail line in northern Beijing with one portion in operation and the remainder under construction....
, Changping
Changping Line, Beijing Subway
The Changping Line of the Beijing Subway is a rapid transit subway line in northern Beijing. The line opened on December 30, 2010 and currently runs run north from the Xi'erqi station on Line 13 to Nanshao...
, Fangshan
Fangshan Line, Beijing Subway
The Fangshan Line of the Beijing Subway is a subway line in western Beijing. The line runs north and east from Suzhuang Dajie in Fangshan District to Guogongzhuang in Fengtai District, where it will connect with the southern terminus of Line 9, currently under construction...
, Yizhuang
Yizhuang Line, Beijing Subway
The Yizhuang Line of the Beijing Subway , formerly designated Line L2, is a light rail line that connects the Yizhuang Industrial Park with Beijing's subway network. The line is long with 14 stations, including six underground and eight on the surface...
and Daxing
Daxing Line, Beijing Subway
The Daxing Line of the Beijing Subway is a light rail line that connects the southern Daxing District of the city with the subway network. It extends Line 4 south from its southern terminus at Majialou, on the 4th Ring Road in Fengtai District, to Nanzhao Lu, beyond the 6th Ring Road in Daxing...
, all suburban lines, opened for operation. The addition of 108 km (67.1 mi) of tracks, a nearly 50% increase, has made the Beijing Subway the fourth longest metro of the world, just behind the New York City Subway
New York City Subway
The New York City Subway is a rapid transit system owned by the City of New York and leased to the New York City Transit Authority, a subsidiary agency of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and also known as MTA New York City Transit...
.
Rolling stock
All Beijing subway trains run on 1,435mm standard gaugeStandard gauge
The standard gauge is a widely-used track gauge . Approximately 60% of the world's existing railway lines are built to this gauge...
rail and draw power from the 750V
Volt
The volt is the SI derived unit for electric potential, electric potential difference, and electromotive force. The volt is named in honor of the Italian physicist Alessandro Volta , who invented the voltaic pile, possibly the first chemical battery.- Definition :A single volt is defined as the...
DC
Direct current
Direct current is the unidirectional flow of electric charge. Direct current is produced by such sources as batteries, thermocouples, solar cells, and commutator-type electric machines of the dynamo type. Direct current may flow in a conductor such as a wire, but can also flow through...
third rail
Third rail
A third rail is a method of providing electric power to a railway train, through a semi-continuous rigid conductor placed alongside or between the rails of a railway track. It is used typically in a mass transit or rapid transit system, which has alignments in its own corridors, fully or almost...
. All lines operate 6-car train sets
Electric multiple unit
An electric multiple unit or EMU is a multiple unit train consisting of self-propelled carriages, using electricity as the motive power. An EMU requires no separate locomotive, as electric traction motors are incorporated within one or a number of the carriages...
with a maximum speed of 80 km/h, except the Airport Express, which has 4-car train sets that can reach 110 km/h.
From the subway's inception to 2003, nearly all Beijing Subway trains were manufactured by the Changchun Railway Vehicles Company Ltd., now a subsidiary of the China CNR Corporation. Currently, all trains on Lines 2, 5, 8, 10, 13, Airport Express and older models on Line 1 are made by Changchun RVC, which is under contract to supply trains for Lines Yizhuang, 9 and 10 (Phase II). The newest Line 1 trains as well as those on Lines 4 and Batong are made by Qingdao Sifang Locomotive & Rolling Stock Co., a subsidiary of China South Locomotive and Rolling Stock Industry Corp.
China South Locomotive and Rolling Stock Industry (Group) Corporation
China South Locomotive & Rolling Stock Corporation Limited is a state-owned enterprise supervised by the State Council of the People's Republic of China...
Qingdao Sifang will also provide train sets for Lines 8, Daxing and Changping.
The Beijing Subway Rolling Stock Equipment Co. Ltd.
Beijing Subway Rolling Stock Equipment Co. Ltd.
Beijing Subway Rolling Stock Equipment Co. Ltd. , also known as the Beijing Subway Rolling Stock Factory is a subway rolling stock assembly and maintenance facility in Beijing. It was founded in 1960 and is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Beijing Mass Transit Railway Operation Corp. Ltd...
, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Beijing Mass Transit Railway Operation Corp. Ltd.
Beijing Mass Transit Railway Operation Corporation Limited
Beijing Mass Transit Railway Operation Corporation Limited formerly known as the Beijing Municipal Subway Company , is the Beijing city-owned company that operates 8 lines of the Beijing Subway. Like many Chinese state-owned companies, it is managed by a chief executive and overseen by a board of...
, provides local assemblage, maintenance and repair services.
System upgrades
Rush hour
A rush hour or peak hour is a part of the day during which traffic congestion on roads and crowding on public transport is at its highest. Normally, this happens twice a day—once in the morning and once in the evening, the times during when the most people commute...
. In response, the subway upgraded signal equipment to increase the frequency of trains and added to the capacity of subway trains. The minimum wait-time has been reduced to 2 min. on Line 2; 2 min. 15 sec. on Line 1; 3 min. on Lines 4, 5, 13, and Batong; 3.5 min. on Line 10; and 15 min. on the Airport Express. Lines 13 and Batong have converted 4-car to 6-car trains. Despite these efforts, during the morning rush hour, conductors at line terminals and other busy stations must routinely restrict the number of passengers who can board each train to prevent the train from becoming too crowded for passengers waiting at other stations down the line. As of August 31, 2011, 25 stations mainly on Lines 13, Batong, 1 and 5, have imposed such restrictions. Some of these stations have built queuing lines
Queue area
Queue areas are places in which people queue for goods or services. Examples include checking out groceries or other goods that have been collected in a self service shop, in a shop without self service, at an ATM, at a ticket desk, a city bus, or in a taxi stand.Queueing is a phenomenon in a...
outside the stations to manage the flow of waiting passengers.
Lines 6, 7 and 14 now under construction will reportedly have longer platforms that can accommodate 8-car trains.
Cellular Network Coverage. Mobile phones can currently be used throughout the system, except for in the tunnels between stations on Lines 1 and 2. There are plans for all lines and stations to have cellular coverage.
Access for the Physically Disabled. Each of the subway's 147 stations is equipped with ramps, lifts, or elevators to facilitate wheelchair access. Newer model train cars now provide space to accommodate wheelchairs. Automated audio announcements for incoming trains are available in all lines except for Line 1. On all lines, station names are announced in Mandarin Chinese and English.
Automatic Fare Collection System. Each station has two to fifteen ticket vending machines. Ticket vending machines in Line 4, 5, 8, and 10 stations and several of the Line 1 and 2 stations can also add credit to Yikatong cards.
Passenger searches
To ensure public safety during the 2008 Summer Olympic and Paralympic2008 Summer Paralympics
The 2008 Summer Paralympic Games, the thirteenth Paralympics, took place in Beijing, China from September 6 to September 17, 2008. As with the 2008 Summer Olympics, equestrian events were held in Hong Kong and sailing events in Qingdao....
Games, the subway initiated a three-month heightened security program from June 29 to September 20, 2008. Riders were subject to searches of their persons and belongings at all stations by security inspectors using metal detectors, X-Ray machines and sniffer dogs. Items banned from public transportation such as "guns, ammunition, knives, explosives, flammable and radioactive materials, and toxic chemicals" were subject to confiscation. The security program was reinstituted during the 2009 New Year Holiday and has since been made permanent through regulations enacted in February 2009.
Emergency planning
After witnessing several serious subway accidents in South Korea (e.g. Daegu subway fireDaegu subway fire
The Daegu subway fire was a mass murder suicide attack on February 18, 2003 which killed at least 198 Koreans and injured at least 147. An arsonist set fire to a train stopped at the Jungangno Station of the Daegu Metropolitan Subway in Daegu, South Korea...
in February 2003), the Beijing Subway removed all shops and vendors from the inside of subway stations and installed self-illuminating exit signs to facilitate emergency evacuations. The popular underground mall at the Xidan
Xidan
Xidan is a major traditional commercial area in Beijing, China. It is located in the Xicheng District.The Xidan commercial district incorporates the Xidan Culture Square, North Xidan Street, as well as many supermarkets and department stores...
station was also closed.
Accidents
The Beijing Subway was plagued by numerous accidents in its early years, including a fire in 1969 that killed 6 people and injured over 200. But its operations have improved dramatically and there have been few reported accidents in recent years. Most of the reported fatalities on the subway are the result of suicidesSuicide in the People's Republic of China
Statistics on suicide in the People's Republic of China are somewhat controversial in that independent studies often produce estimates that are greatly at odds with official statistics provided by the country's government...
. Authorities have responded by installing doors on platforms of newer lines.
There have been several reported fatal incidents at subway construction sites in recent years. On October 8, 2003, the collapse of steel beams at the construction site of Line 5's Chongwenmen Station killed three workers and injured one. On March 29, 2007, the construction site at the Suzhoujie Station on Line 10
Line 10, Beijing Subway
Line 10 of the Beijing Subway is the second loop line in Beijing's rapid transit network.Half of the Line 10 loop, north and east of the city centre, has been in operation since July 19, 2008. The other half of the loop, in the south and west, is now under construction. In the north, south and...
collapsed, burying six workers. On June 6, 2008, prior to the opening of Line 10, a worker was crushed to death inside an escalator in Zhichunlu Station when an intern turned on the moving staircase. On July 14, 2010, two workers were killed and eight were injured at the construction site of Line 15's Shunyi Station when the steel support structure collapsed on them. On June 1, 2011, one worker was killed when a section of Line 6 under construction in Xicheng District near Pinganli collapsed. A collapse of an escalator at the Beijing Zoo station on July 5, 2011, cause the death of one 13 year old boy and injuries to 28 others.
See also
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Metro systems by annual passenger rides The most-used metro systems in terms of passenger rides per year:# Tokyo Subway 3.161 billion # Moscow Metro 2.348 billion # Seoul Subway 2.048 billion... |