Evolution of Beijing railway

(chinadaily.com.cn) Updated: 2014-08-19 11:15

Click her for Beijing Subway Map in higher resolution.

The plan to build a railway system in Beijing began in 1953. The project, Subway Line 1, started in 1965 and was completed in 1969. It was the first metro in China. By May 2014, Beijing had 17 operating railway lines totaling 467 kilometers (excluding line S2), with 231 stations. The subway system, covering 11 districts, welcomes 10 million passengers per workday and about 11.55 million on peak days. Billed as the busiest urban railway system in China, it also claims three tops in operating time, passenger capacity and the number of departures in rush hours.

Big events in Beijing railway:

Sep 15, 2004	The official website Beijing Subway launched.
Oct 16, 2004	The installation of barrier-free structures on subway Line 1 and Line 2 were finished.
May 1, 2005	The new type of air-conditioned trains was put into use on the Batong Line. The old trains adopted natural ventilation instead of air-conditioning.
Oct 9, 2005	Mobile TV took on a first appearance by broadcasting successfully on Line 13.
Nov 1, 2007	Monthly service passes dedicated to the railway system officially ended.
Jun 9, 2008	Beijing subway launched its auto-ticket-selling system , ending the 38-year history of paper tickets.
Jun 29, 2008	Beijing railway initiated security checks on the eve of the 2008 Beijing Olympics and continued with it from then on.
Aug 8, 2008	On the day the Beijing Olympics kicked off, Beijing railway (excluding the Airport Line) provided around-the-clock service. The departure of the first train on the Olympic Branch Line at 4:38 am symbolized the 45-hour non-stop operation for Beijing railway system for the first time, breaking the record of the longest operating time since its introduction in 1969.
Sep 28, 2009	Subway Line 4, the second north-to-south traffic artery after Line 5, opened to the public.
Mar 8, 2013	Beijing railway set a record by transporting 11.05 million people on a single day, ranking the first in usage rate in the world for the first time.
Nov 13, 2013	The Beijing Municipal Commission of Transport announced that screen doors would be installed in all stations along Line 13 and the Batong Line before the end of 2013.
May 22, 2014	The 11th session of the 14th Standing Committee of the Beijing Municipal People' s Congress discussed the "Safety Rules of Beijing Railway Transport (draft)". The Urban Construction and Environmental Protection Commission of the Beijing Municipal People' s Congress suggested adding three rules to prohibit eating, begging and distributing advertisements.
By the end of 2015	The first batch of "unmanned" trains will be unveiled on the Yanfang Line by the end of next year. The so-called "unmanned" train means the train can run automatically, with a set of actions to stop or depart without the intervention of driver or crew members.