2010-07-21
Subway System
Subway construction started in China's capital in 1965. The first stretch, which opened between the city's railway station and Pingguoyuan, included today's western branch of Line 1 and the southern part of Line 2. In 1987, the circular line was finished (16 km) and both lines started operating separately. In the 1990's an eastern extension of Line 1 was built; the so-called Fu Ba Line, to Sihuidong (formerly shown as BA Wang Fan) which opened for trial in Oct. 1999 for the People's Republic's 50th anniversary. The new section (13.5 km) was eventually connected to the western section of Line 1 on June 24, 2000, which had been upgraded to ATO operation.
The entire Line 1 from Pingguoyuan to Sihuidong is now 38 km long and provides transfer to rectangular loop Line 2 twice, at Fuxingmen and at Jianguomen. Line 2 is 16 km, so the total network operating in 2000 is 54 km. Most stations have central platforms and are 118m long, but only 10 have escalators. 4 or 6-car-trains are used, which are equipped with acoustic station announcement capability. For future extensions of the network (8 lines), some stations have already been built as transfer stations: Xizhimen, Dongsishitiao, Jianguomen, Yonghegong and Jishuitan.
Construction of "City Rail" (Line 13 in the overall "rapid transit" planning) started in December 1999. The semicircular line with 16 stations runs from Xizhimen to Dongzhimen (both are stations on the rectangular loop Line 2). The 40.8 km line is mainly above ground, either elevated (7.7 km) or at a grade (30.3km). After the western section (20.6km) went into operation on Sept. 28th, 2002, the eastern section was opened in January 2003.
Subway Line 5, the first north-south metro line in Beijing, is 27.6-km, with 16.9 km and 16 stations underground and 10.7 km and 7 stations above ground. Platforms are equipped with half-high platform screen doors. Construction started in Dec. 2002, and the entire line was brought into service in October 2007.
Subway Line 10 (25 km) was opened on 19 July 2008, in time for the Olympic Games. Its construction had started in Dec. 2003. Line 10 is fully underground.
The first 4.5 km section of Line 8, the so-called Olympic Branch Line, also opened on 19 July 2008. It serves all the important Olympic venues and at the moment, is only linked to Line 10.
Although planned to open for the Olympics in 2008, Line 4 (28.6 km with 24 stations), which provides a metro link to the new Beijing South Railway Station, opened in Sept 2009.
Fares
A flat fare of RMB() 2.00 with unlimited transfers applies to all lines except the Airport Express, which costs 25 Children below 1.2m 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 Transportation 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.
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. For precise hours and frequency of service, check the official schedule.http://www.bjsubway.com/cczn/dtskb/index.shtml
Official Website:
http://www.bjsubway.com/
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