Beixinqiao subway station, in east central Beijing, passed
structural checks on January 9, the first station on the capital's
new No. 5 line to do so.
According to the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Construction, over
40 billion yuan (US$4.83 billion) has been invested so far in
extending the subway system, one tenth of which was spent in
2004.
Beijing began to build its first subway in 1965, the No. 1 line
that runs past Tian'anmen Square, almost parallel to Chang'an
Boulevard. The No. 2 line, completed in 1984, forms a loop around
the center of town.
No. 13 line was put into operation in January 2003 and runs in a
horseshoe shape through the northwest and northeast of the city,
passing Zhongguancun Science Park, several institutions of the Chinese Academy
of Sciences, Peking
University and Tsinghua
University.
In December of the same year, the Bawangfen/Tongzhou line
extended the No. 1 line to the east, covering a distance of 19
kilometers.
Construction of the No. 5 line, which runs north to south, began
in December 2002. It connects Chongwenmen, Wangfujing, Temple of
Heaven, Dongdan and Dongsi downtown districts and the
residential area of Fangzhuang. By the end of November 2004,
construction on 21 out of its 22 stations had begun.
No. 4 line, another north-south route, is also currently under
construction. It goes through Xidan, Xizhimen, Zhongguancun and to
the north gate of the Summer
Palace. Work on four stations is now underway.
The No. 5 and No. 4 lines are expected to help reduce road
traffic and protect historical features by attracting more
commuters underground.
No. 10 line will run west to east between the third and the
fourth ring-roads to the north of the city center before turning
south to the CBD.
No. 8 line will serve Olympic venues, running north from the No.
10 line to the Olympic Games Center, Olympic Park and Olympic
Forest Park.
By 2008, Beijing will have a network capable of serving its
business, tourism and residential needs -- a subway fit for
the capital.
(China.org.cn by Wu Nanlan, January 14, 2005)