China Railway Design Corporation recently announced the second environmental impact assessment (EIA) of the northern extension of the new airport metro line and disclosed the detailed plan and progress of the project. 

According to the plan, the new airport metro line will be extended by 3.5 kilometers northward from Caoqiao Station to the Lize Financial Business District. Construction will start at the end of this year and is scheduled to complete in 2021.

Construction entirely underground

The new airport metro line is one of the "five vertical and two horizontal" lines in the overall planning for the transport network around the Beijing Daxing International Airport, and its construction started at the end of 2016. With a total length of 41 kilometers, the line passes through Fengtai and Daxing districts and has three stations — Caoqiao Station, Cigezhuang Station and New Airport North Terminal Building — going north to south. The line is scheduled to open for trial operation together with the new airport.  

As to why the line should be extended northward, the EIA report says: To better utilize the land resources in the Lize Financial Business District, an urban terminal building shall be constructed, which would boost the regional development and upgrade the financial business district. The plan to extend the line northward was made after extensive consultation with relevant departments.

This EIA report also specifies the run of the extension part of the line. The plan shows that the extension of the new airport line runs on the east side of the Beijing-Kaifeng Expressway and north of the Beijing-Shanghai Railway. The track will be laid along the east side of the Beijing-Kaifeng Expressway, heading north to the south of the Caihuying Bridge. After that, it goes under the green belt in the southwest corner of the Caihuying Bridge and turns westward to Lize Road, goes under Caihuying Station of Metro Line 14 and the Beijing-Jiulong Railway, stretches along the north side of Lize Road and goes into the core area of the Lize Financial Business District where a station will be built. The extension line is entirely underground, with only one station — Lize Financial Business District Station — to be built along the way.

Urban terminal to be relocated to Lize 

The urban terminal originally planned at Caoqiao will be cancelled and the station will be built at Lize instead, according to reports.  

Analysts say a terminal at Caoqiao would exacerbate the traffic congestion in the area. As the land resources at the northern part of the Lize area are being sorted out, it would make more sense to relocate the terminal to Lize. Reports say the new urban terminal building will be constructed together with the metro station, where passengers can go through the check-in and baggage check. 

Lize Station on the north extension line is particularly important, as it can better serve the Beijing Daxing International Airport. At the northern end of the line, the station must be well connected to more metro lines to facilitate line transfer.

According to the Metro Construction Plan (Phase-II) of Beijing, Lines 14 and 16, which are under construction, will have stations inside the Lize Financial Business District. In the future, passengers on the new airport metro line will be able to transfer to Lines 14 and 16 at the Lize Financial Business District Station.

The EIA report also reveals the schematic diagram of the route plan of metro lines, with Line 11 being planned to go through the Lize Financial Business District. If the “four-line transfer” is realized at Lize, passengers will find it much easier to arrive at the Beijing Daxing International Airport by subway.

Completion due in 2021 

The maximum speed of the northern extension line is set at 160 kilometers per hour, and the line uses a type of urban utility vehicles. The vehicles appear similar to intercity trains on the exterior and interior, running at a speed in between subway trains and intercity trains.  

The train used for the new airport line will consist of seven passenger cars and one baggage car, capable of carrying 448 passengers. 

According to the EIA report, during rush hours 12 pairs of trains will run on the line per hour, at an interval of five minutes. The operating hours will last from 5 a.m. to 11 p.m. 

The planning authorities of Beijing had previously approved the plan for the northern extension of the new airport metro line, which is scheduled to complete in 2021. The line will not pass through existing or planned large-scale residential areas, cultural and educational areas, or historical blocks. Nevertheless, as the project is still in the EIA stage, details are subject to change. 

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