The existing network spans 155 km and has 93 stations, with the cost to develop each additional kilometer averaging out at about 500 million yuan, Liu Hongtao, a senior official with the Beijing railway transportation construction corporation, said.

He told China Daily the massive infrastructure project was already progressing well.

"Three lines are close to completion, one is under construction, and ground has been broken at six others," he said.

"The total cost of all the extra lines will be something like 200 billion yuan by 2015," he said.

"The government's usual annual budget for public transport is about 1 billion yuan," Zhou, who will be in charge of public transport in Beijing for the next five years, said.

Wang Hailong, who has worked as a taxi driver in the capital for the past five years is not worried about the metro taking away his business.

"The new subway does us little harm," he said. "And it will certainly ease the pain of millions of people who now travel by bus."

(China Daily March 3, 2008)