Beijing’s new No. 5 subway line which will run through the center of the city is set to start carrying passengers in September. Ding Shukui, deputy manager of the city’s rail traffic company, said construction of the subway tunnel has been completed and workers are busy building the last station. He said, ‘Trial operations begin on June 30.’
The line is 27.6-km long and runs north-to-south line runs through the eastern part of the downtown area. It starts at Taipingzhuang, north of the north fourth ring road, travels underground through the center of the city to Songjiazhuang near the south fourth ring road. It has 22 stops along the way.
It meets with Line 1, the city’s east-west subway, at Dong Dan, one stop east of Wangfujing. It links the loop line at Yong He Gong in the north and Chong Wen Men in the south. Passengers on line 5 can also connect to line 13, north Beijing’s light rail line, at Li Shui Qiao.Construction began in late 2002, and cost RMB12 billion( $1.55 billion).
Live broadcasts will be provided on televisions installed on each subway car and (many would see this as a negative point) passengers will never lose a connection on their mobile phones.
This subway has slightly wider and taller cars than current subways in Beijing and are more comfortable. They are designed to reach speeds of 80 km per hour.
Beijing currently has 95 km of mass transit rail lines in operation, of which 54.15 kilometers run underground. Another 100 km of mass transit lines, consisting of eight different routes, will begin operation before 2008.
By 2008, there will be nine lines totaling 200 km, and by 2020 the city government plans to have 19 subway lines in operation, totaling 561.5 kilometers, which could make it the largest underground rail system in the world.
Source: China View