Society
New Beijing subway to break ground this year
By Zuo Likun (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2010-03-10 11:49
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The landscape of Beijing looks set to keep sprawling as a new subway line linking the southeast up-and-coming Tongzhou District will add into the capital's labyrinthine underground traffic network this year.
"The subway Line 6 project will definitely start within this year," said Wang Yunfeng, the district Party secretary, adding that at least eight subway lines will stretch into his jurisdiction in the future, the Beijing Times reported Wednesday.
The king-sized new line, extending 42 kilometers (26 miles) underground and longer than any of the nine subways so far in Beijing, will be separated into two parts for construction.
To be built this year is the eastern part, dubbed "express subway R1", starting from the dazzling World Trade Center in Beijing's central business district and whizzing across 15 stations to its terminal in Tongzhou.
The R1 subway, paralleling the over-crowed Batong Line, will only stop at major stations, covering the southeast booming district much faster.
Outskirt Tongzhou, known for its large population of migrant workers who commute to and fro the neighboring CBD area, is expected to harbor 900,000 people in the future, according to a district blueprint released by Wang.
The Party secretary added that highways connecting Hebei Province and Tianjin will also be built in the future.
