# Beijing subway system

Part 5   What shall you chose if you want to go to a place in a far distant quickly in Beijing?

The best answer is subway.

 

The reason is quite simple. The subway system is becoming more and more convenient and widespread. It’s transferring itself into a MRT system. The history of Beijing subway which is longer than Hong Kong’s MTR or Singapore’s MRT is really complicated. It was in quite a bad condition before 2003. The train was crowded and hot which makes a sharp contrast to what we owe nowadays.

The subway was put into discussion in 1953 in order to provide an underground railway to transfer both soldiers and citizens to a safety place when a war broke out. The Soviet Union’s expert helped to design, and a plan of 3 subway lines is published. Actually this plan is quiet unpractical and realistic, because the experts designed a subway station that are too powerful which the Hongmiao station was about 400 meters under the ground while the average depth in Singapore is 20 meters.

When the year went to 1958, China broke up with the Soviet Union and all experts went back to Russia. Because everybody afraid of fighting with Soviet Union. The government use 3 years time to build the initial underground railway under the help of over 100 thousand citizens’ help. It was put into use in 1969 from Fushouling to Beijing Railway station. This line was used to transfer soldiers from railway station to the military base in the West Mountain of Beijing. The First three stations we’re built for military use, so they are totally different from the others. What’ more they are still not open to the public yet. When time goes to 1970 the subway continued to increase and the circle line were put into use. After over ten years of researchers and experiments, the subway finally opened to the public in 1982. Tens of people sacrificed during the experiments.

When Beijing won the host to the 2008 Olympic Games, the subway construction became faster and faster. The No 13 line which connected the largest several large living areas in Beijing and Batong line which connected Tongzhou district and urban area were completed in only three years time. They were put in use to the public in 2005. Then in 2007, he No 5 line which run north to south which connected the largest suburban living areas with the urban area. The No 5 line is the first modern subway in Beijing and brought a totally new concept to Beijingers. The Lama temple station was decorated with traditional Chinese architecture style. They lead a trend of subway culture.

Finally the No 10 line phase 1, the No 8 line phase 1 and airport line L1 was put into use before the Olympic Games. With the influence of subway culture, each of the stations and lines has its own characters. Such as No 10 line which connect Zhongguancun and CBD where are the busiest place in Beijing, shows a modern simple and rapid style. In the National Forest Park station the pillars were designed in the shape of tree trunks. It’s very convenient to take a subway in Beijing. The process is almost exactly the same with Singapore. We use a Yikatong to pay for the ticket fair. However, the only different is that wherever you go, it only cost 2 Yuan.

Up to now the system owns a length over 200 km with 123 stations and carry 3.4 million people every day. In the future there will be other 13 subway lines and 6 suburban railway lines join the system which is 561 km long, which is the longest subway system in the world.

The No 4 line which managed and investigated by the HTR Company is going to be open in September. It will run from Summer Palace to the south forth ring.

The No 9 line which connects the National library and west railway station and world park will be open in next year.

The No6, No7, No14, No10 phase 2, No8 phase 2, L2 line, Daxing line, and S1 line will be complete in 2012.

There’re still No11, No12, No15, No16, and No17 line under designing. The subway system in Beijing will become the most famous mass transit system in the future.