Beijing railway station
Encyclopedia
Beijing Railway Station is one of Beijing
's railway stations, opened in the 1950s, as can be seen from its architecture (which merges traditional architecture with 50s-design). 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. Trains enter and leave to the scenery of a former Beijing city gate at Dongbianmen.
The traffic load of Beijing Railway Station has decreased somewhat with the opening of the Beijing West Railway Station
in 1996. Still, it remains a busy railway station. Generally, trains for Manchuria (including Harbin, Shenyang and Dalian), Shandong (including Qingdao, Jinan), Eastern Seaboard (including Shanghai, Nanjing and Hangzhou) as well as for Inner and Outer Mongolia depart from this station. The remainder depart from Beijing West. Some international lines (notably the railway line linking Beijing to Pyongyang
, North Korea
(DPRK), amongst others), also depart from this station.
The Beijing Subway
system used to terminate at Beijing Railway Station back in the 1960s and 1970s. This underground station still exists to this day, and forms part of the Line 2
underground line.
Numerous bus
and trolleybus
lines pass through the railway station.
The order at the railway station has been complicated recently through roadworks on the eastern road. The western road leading to the station has already been completed in full.
, the Central Committee
in 1958 began the planning and construction of ten large-scale projects, known as the "Ten Great Buildings
" in an attempt to showcase the new outlook of the country and the Beijing Railway Station was amongst the projects undertaken. In late October 1958, according to the early 1950 Beijing municipal government's construction and planning records, the design arrangements for the new railway station was commenced. The station's design was assigned to the Ministry of Railway Institute's third department (now the Third Railway Survey and Design Institute Group Co. Ltd) with the station house building chaired by then renowned architects Yang Tingbao (杨廷宝) and Chen Deng-Ao (陈登鏊), the National Building and Industry Department and the Nanjing Institute of Architectural Design
were to cooperate in the design tasks. The station's design progressed rapidly and by early December the same year, the whole design proposal was completed. On December 10, the design proposal was approved by the Central Committee
. The then Premier
Zhou Enlai
was also very concerned about the design and construction of the new Beijing Railway Station, and dealt with aspects concerning the direction and positioning of station names to the layout of the VIP room environment. In determining the design program proposal, Zhou Enlai
proposed that turret
s be built on each of the two wings of the main building and this suggestion was adopted.。
On January 20, 1959 the construction of the new station was commenced with the number of construction worker
s reaching up to two million people during the peak stage and project investment amounted to 57.82 million yuan
. Soviet Union
experts were also hired to give technical guidance at the construction sites. In just over seven months, the project was completed on September 10, 1959. The new Beijing Railway Station covered an area of two hundred and fifty thousand square meters, the Station House Building site covered an area of 46,700 square meters, the Station Plaza comprised an area of forty thousand square meters.
The Beijing Railway Station was one of the largest construction projects in mainland China
during that time with modern facilities and it was also China's first large modern railway terminal. A the time of completion, the station has a twelve tracks and six railway platform
s with canopies
attached to them. The Station house building faced south and the architecture
included both a Chinese
traditional style and the Soviet
Stalinist architecture
。The twelve passenger waiting rooms comprised a total area of fourteen thousand square meters and was able to accommodate 14,000 waiting passengers. The inner complex of the Main Station Building contained a passenger
waiting room
, mother and child waiting room, movie theater
, recreation hall, visitors' restaurants, post office
, clinic
and other facilities. Installed on the roof of the Station House were two marble
clock faces and every morning from 7am to 9pm the bell sounded punctually and "The East Is Red song is played out.
The Beijing station equipment was considered to be relatively advanced at its -time with four AC2-59 type escalator
s installed in the interior; the joint design and production of the escalators were coordinated by the Shanghai
Jiaotong University
and Shanghai Elevator Company. The four sets of escalators were replaced during the 1980 and again during 1990; the most recent replacement of the elevators occurred in early2005 - the design being a product of Otis
Company.
After the completion of the new Beijing Railway Station, its transport capacity far exceeded the formerly used East Railway Station and it played an increasing role in heavy transport tasks, and today it is still Beijing's most important Passenger Railway Station, and has the largest station traffic in China. The number of trains and traffic hs also increased year by year: In 1959 there were 33 train lines; in 1966 there were forty train lines; in 1978 there were sixty-one train lines; in 1985 there were seventy-eight train lines; and by 1993 there were eighty-two train lines. During the late 1950, the amount of passengers using the railway transportation system were six million people a year, in the late 1960 it was eight million people a year, in the late 1970 it reached fifteen million a year , and after the Chinese economic reform
period, the usage soared to more than thirty million people. To alleviate the transport pressure on the Beijing Railway Station, the Beijing
Municipal Government and the Ministry of Railways in 1980 started the planning and construction of Beijing's second passenger station and hence the Beijing West Railway Station
was completed in 1996, which provided transportation links for the Beijing-Kowloon Line and the Beijing-Guangzhou line and helped alleviate pressure on the Beijing Railway Station - this led to a reduction in passenger traffic for the Beijing Railway Station to twenty million people。
Since 1976, the Beijing Railway Station had begun a series of upgrades to the passenger service facilities, for example a computer system had been set up for processing ticket
s, a TV monitoring screen, wireless communication, automatic broadcasting system, and extensions made to the railway platform expanded its length from 497 to 603 metres in order to meet the needs of the expanding transportation flow. In 1988, the Shanghai Electric Clock Factory installed China's first large screen display system in the Beijing Railway Station Square. Between May 1998 and September 1999, the Ministry of Railways implemented a seismic strengthening project to the Beijing Railway Station and also introduced new passenger features such as a central air conditioning
system, passenger guidance system, multi-functional radio broadcasting system. Since June 18, 2003, the Beijing Railway Station began an expansion of two new sites, comprising an area of 20,513 square meters and includes a specialized large parcel luggage line., renovations included the removal of the concrete
canopy
, alterations to the steel arch station pole, and alterations to the original site raised it from 1 to 1.2 meters,.
In June 2008, in order to meet the needs of the Beijing Olympic Games
, bilingual sign
s were created at the Beijing Railway Station to facilitate an overall increase in foreign tourists travelling to the games, in addition to putting up the "Beijing Railway Station", several other signs were also erected at station entrances, exits and ticket booths 。
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...
's railway stations, opened in the 1950s, as can be seen from its architecture (which merges traditional architecture with 50s-design). It is located in the city's central location, just next 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....
, and is within the confines of the city's 2nd Ring Road. Trains enter and leave to the scenery of a former Beijing city gate at Dongbianmen.
The traffic load of Beijing Railway Station has decreased somewhat with the opening of the 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...
in 1996. Still, it remains a busy railway station. Generally, trains for Manchuria (including Harbin, Shenyang and Dalian), Shandong (including Qingdao, Jinan), Eastern Seaboard (including Shanghai, Nanjing and Hangzhou) as well as for Inner and Outer Mongolia depart from this station. The remainder depart from Beijing West. Some international lines (notably the railway line linking Beijing to Pyongyang
Pyongyang
Pyongyang is the capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, commonly known as North Korea, and the largest city in the country. Pyongyang is located on the Taedong River and, according to preliminary results from the 2008 population census, has a population of 3,255,388. The city was...
, North Korea
North Korea
The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea , , is a country in East Asia, occupying the northern half of the Korean Peninsula. Its capital and largest city is Pyongyang. The Korean Demilitarized Zone serves as the buffer zone between North Korea and South Korea...
(DPRK), amongst others), also depart from this station.
The Beijing Subway
Beijing Subway
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...
system used to terminate at Beijing Railway Station back in the 1960s and 1970s. This underground station still exists to this day, and forms part of the Line 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...
underground line.
Numerous bus
Bus
A bus is a road vehicle designed to carry passengers. Buses can have a capacity as high as 300 passengers. The most common type of bus is the single-decker bus, with larger loads carried by double-decker buses and articulated buses, and smaller loads carried by midibuses and minibuses; coaches are...
and trolleybus
Trolleybus
A trolleybus is an electric bus that draws its electricity from overhead wires using spring-loaded trolley poles. Two wires and poles are required to complete the electrical circuit...
lines pass through the railway station.
The order at the railway station has been complicated recently through roadworks on the eastern road. The western road leading to the station has already been completed in full.
History
With the aim of commemorating the Tenth Anniversary of the People's Republic of ChinaPeople's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
, the Central Committee
Central Committee of the Communist Party of China
The Central Committee of the Communist Party of China is the highest authority within the Communist Party of China. Its approximately 350 members and alternates are selected once every five years by the National Party Congress....
in 1958 began the planning and construction of ten large-scale projects, known as the "Ten Great Buildings
Ten Great Buildings
The Ten Great Buildings are ten public buildings built in Beijing in 1959 to commemorate the ten year anniversary of the People's Republic of China. They were part of an architecture and urbanism initiative of the Great Leap Forward, and were completed in a time span of ten months, by their...
" in an attempt to showcase the new outlook of the country and the Beijing Railway Station was amongst the projects undertaken. In late October 1958, according to the early 1950 Beijing municipal government's construction and planning records, the design arrangements for the new railway station was commenced. The station's design was assigned to the Ministry of Railway Institute's third department (now the Third Railway Survey and Design Institute Group Co. Ltd) with the station house building chaired by then renowned architects Yang Tingbao (杨廷宝) and Chen Deng-Ao (陈登鏊), the National Building and Industry Department and the Nanjing Institute of Architectural Design
Southeast University
Southeast University , colloquially Dongda is a public, coeducational research university located in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, China....
were to cooperate in the design tasks. The station's design progressed rapidly and by early December the same year, the whole design proposal was completed. On December 10, the design proposal was approved by the Central Committee
Central Committee of the Communist Party of China
The Central Committee of the Communist Party of China is the highest authority within the Communist Party of China. Its approximately 350 members and alternates are selected once every five years by the National Party Congress....
. The then Premier
Premier
Premier is a title for the head of government in some countries and states.-Examples by country:In many nations, "premier" is used interchangeably with "prime minister"...
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...
was also very concerned about the design and construction of the new Beijing Railway Station, and dealt with aspects concerning the direction and positioning of station names to the layout of the VIP room environment. In determining the design program proposal, 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...
proposed that turret
Turret
In architecture, a turret is a small tower that projects vertically from the wall of a building such as a medieval castle. Turrets were used to provide a projecting defensive position allowing covering fire to the adjacent wall in the days of military fortification...
s be built on each of the two wings of the main building and this suggestion was adopted.。
On January 20, 1959 the construction of the new station was commenced with the number of construction worker
Construction worker
A construction worker or builder is a professional, tradesman, or labourer who directly participates in the physical construction of infrastructure.-Construction trades:...
s reaching up to two million people during the peak stage and project investment amounted to 57.82 million yuan
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...
. Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
experts were also hired to give technical guidance at the construction sites. In just over seven months, the project was completed on September 10, 1959. The new Beijing Railway Station covered an area of two hundred and fifty thousand square meters, the Station House Building site covered an area of 46,700 square meters, the Station Plaza comprised an area of forty thousand square meters.
The Beijing Railway Station was one of the largest construction projects 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...
during that time with modern facilities and it was also China's first large modern railway terminal. A the time of completion, the station has a twelve tracks and six railway platform
Railway platform
A railway platform is a section of pathway, alongside rail tracks at a train station, metro station or tram stop, at which passengers may board or alight from trains or trams. Almost all stations for rail transport have some form of platforms, with larger stations having multiple platforms...
s with canopies
Canopy (building)
A canopy is an overhead roof or else a structure over which a fabric or metal covering is attached, able to provide shade or shelter. A canopy can also be a tent, generally without a floor....
attached to them. The Station house building faced south and the architecture
Architecture
Architecture is both the process and product of planning, designing and construction. Architectural works, in the material form of buildings, are often perceived as cultural and political symbols and as works of art...
included both a Chinese
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
traditional style and the Soviet
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
Stalinist architecture
Stalinist architecture
Stalinist architecture , also referred to as Stalinist Gothic, or Socialist Classicism, is a term given to architecture of the Soviet Union between 1933, when Boris Iofan's draft for Palace of the Soviets was officially approved, and 1955, when Nikita Khrushchev condemned "excesses" of the past...
。The twelve passenger waiting rooms comprised a total area of fourteen thousand square meters and was able to accommodate 14,000 waiting passengers. The inner complex of the Main Station Building contained a passenger
Passenger
A passenger is a term broadly used to describe any person who travels in a vehicle, but bears little or no responsibility for the tasks required for that vehicle to arrive at its destination....
waiting room
Waiting room
A waiting room is a building, or more commonly a part of a building where people sit or stand until the event they are waiting for occurs.There are generally two types of waiting room. One is where individuals leave one at a time, for instance at a doctor's office or a hospital, or outside a school...
, mother and child waiting room, movie theater
Movie theater
A movie theater, cinema, movie house, picture theater, film theater is a venue, usually a building, for viewing motion pictures ....
, recreation hall, visitors' restaurants, post office
Post office
A post office is a facility forming part of a postal system for the posting, receipt, sorting, handling, transmission or delivery of mail.Post offices offer mail-related services such as post office boxes, postage and packaging supplies...
, clinic
Clinic
A clinic is a health care facility that is primarily devoted to the care of outpatients...
and other facilities. Installed on the roof of the Station House were two marble
Marble
Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or dolomite.Geologists use the term "marble" to refer to metamorphosed limestone; however stonemasons use the term more broadly to encompass unmetamorphosed limestone.Marble is commonly used for...
clock faces and every morning from 7am to 9pm the bell sounded punctually and "The East Is Red song is played out.
The Beijing station equipment was considered to be relatively advanced at its -time with four AC2-59 type escalator
Escalator
An escalator is a moving staircase – a conveyor transport device for carrying people between floors of a building. The device consists of a motor-driven chain of individual, linked steps that move up or down on tracks, allowing the step treads to remain horizontal.Escalators are used around the...
s installed in the interior; the joint design and production of the escalators were coordinated by the Shanghai
Shanghai
Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...
Jiaotong University
Jiaotong University
Jiaotong University, Jiao Tong University or Chiao Tung University , located at Shanghai, Tangshan and Peking during the early period of twentieth century, was the predecessor of the following universities:...
and Shanghai Elevator Company. The four sets of escalators were replaced during the 1980 and again during 1990; the most recent replacement of the elevators occurred in early2005 - the design being a product of Otis
Otis
-People:*Otis family, Prominent American political family*Otis *Otis -Fictional characters:*Otis, a puppy in The Adventures of Milo and Otis*Otis the Aardvark, a BBC puppet character...
Company.
After the completion of the new Beijing Railway Station, its transport capacity far exceeded the formerly used East Railway Station and it played an increasing role in heavy transport tasks, and today it is still Beijing's most important Passenger Railway Station, and has the largest station traffic in China. The number of trains and traffic hs also increased year by year: In 1959 there were 33 train lines; in 1966 there were forty train lines; in 1978 there were sixty-one train lines; in 1985 there were seventy-eight train lines; and by 1993 there were eighty-two train lines. During the late 1950, the amount of passengers using the railway transportation system were six million people a year, in the late 1960 it was eight million people a year, in the late 1970 it reached fifteen million a year , and after the Chinese economic reform
Chinese economic reform
The Chinese economic reform refers to the program of economic reforms called "Socialism with Chinese characteristics" in the People's Republic of China that were started in December 1978 by reformists within the Communist Party of China led by Deng Xiaoping.China had one of the world's largest...
period, the usage soared to more than thirty million people. To alleviate the transport pressure on the Beijing Railway Station, the 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...
Municipal Government and the Ministry of Railways in 1980 started the planning and construction of Beijing's second passenger station and hence the 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...
was completed in 1996, which provided transportation links for the Beijing-Kowloon Line and the Beijing-Guangzhou line and helped alleviate pressure on the Beijing Railway Station - this led to a reduction in passenger traffic for the Beijing Railway Station to twenty million people。
Since 1976, the Beijing Railway Station had begun a series of upgrades to the passenger service facilities, for example a computer system had been set up for processing ticket
Train ticket
A train ticket is a ticket issued by a railway operator that enables the bearer to travel on the operator's network or a partner's network. Tickets can authorize the bearer to travel a set itinerary at a specific time , a set itinerary at any time , a set itinerary at multiple times, or an...
s, a TV monitoring screen, wireless communication, automatic broadcasting system, and extensions made to the railway platform expanded its length from 497 to 603 metres in order to meet the needs of the expanding transportation flow. In 1988, the Shanghai Electric Clock Factory installed China's first large screen display system in the Beijing Railway Station Square. Between May 1998 and September 1999, the Ministry of Railways implemented a seismic strengthening project to the Beijing Railway Station and also introduced new passenger features such as a central air conditioning
Air conditioning
An air conditioner is a home appliance, system, or mechanism designed to dehumidify and extract heat from an area. The cooling is done using a simple refrigeration cycle...
system, passenger guidance system, multi-functional radio broadcasting system. Since June 18, 2003, the Beijing Railway Station began an expansion of two new sites, comprising an area of 20,513 square meters and includes a specialized large parcel luggage line., renovations included the removal of the concrete
Concrete
Concrete is a composite construction material, composed of cement and other cementitious materials such as fly ash and slag cement, aggregate , water and chemical admixtures.The word concrete comes from the Latin word...
canopy
Canopy (building)
A canopy is an overhead roof or else a structure over which a fabric or metal covering is attached, able to provide shade or shelter. A canopy can also be a tent, generally without a floor....
, alterations to the steel arch station pole, and alterations to the original site raised it from 1 to 1.2 meters,.
In June 2008, in order to meet the needs of the Beijing Olympic Games
2008 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...
, bilingual sign
Bilingual sign
A bilingual sign is the representation on a panel of texts in more than one language...
s were created at the Beijing Railway Station to facilitate an overall increase in foreign tourists travelling to the games, in addition to putting up the "Beijing Railway Station", several other signs were also erected at station entrances, exits and ticket booths 。
Station Line Layout
| North | Platform #1 |
| Train Lines（Line 1） Train Lines（Line 2） |
|
| Platform #2 | |
| Train Lines(Line 3) Train Lines(Line 4) |
|
| Platform #3 | |
| Train Lines (Line 5) Headshunt Headshunt A headshunt is a short length of track, provided to release locomotives at terminal platforms, or to allow shunting to take place clear of main lines.- Terminal Headshunts :... （Line 6） Train Lines (Line 7) |
|
| Platform #4 | |
| Train Lines (Line 8) Train Lines (Line 9) |
|
| Platform #5 | |
| Train Lines (Line 10) Train Lines (Line 11) |
|
| Platform #6 | |
| Train Lines (Line 12) Train Lines (Line 13) |
|
| Platform #7 | |
| Train Lines (Line 14) Headshunt Headshunt A headshunt is a short length of track, provided to release locomotives at terminal platforms, or to allow shunting to take place clear of main lines.- Terminal Headshunts :... （Line 15） Train Lines (Line 16) |
|
| south | Platform #8 |
Surrounding traffic
The Beijing Railway Station is a transportation hub in Beijing. Zhanqian Street both the starting point and endpoint for buses. In addition, the surrounding area is coach bound to Beijing.Sister Stations
：-
- Seoul StationSeoul StationSeoul Station is a major railway station in Seoul, South Korea. The station is served by the Gyeongbu Line, its high-speed counterpart and the Gyeongui Line, with frequent high-speed, express, and local services to various points in South Korea.-Services:...
： - Tokyo StationTokyo Stationis a train station located in the Marunouchi business district of Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan, near the Imperial Palace grounds and the Ginza commercial district....
（Concluded since 1980） - Ueno StationUeno Stationis a major railway station inTokyo's Taitō ward. It is the station used to reach the Ueno district and Ueno Park -- which contains Tokyo National Museum, The National Museum of Western Art, Ueno Zoo, Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music and other famous cultural facilities...
（Concluded since 1980）
- Seoul Station