The Beijing Subway is the
rapid transit
Rapid transit or mass rapid transit (MRT) or heavy rail, commonly referred to as metro, is a type of high-capacity public transport that is generally built in urban areas. A grade separation, grade separated rapid transit line below ground su ...
system of
Beijing
Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...
Municipality
A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate.
The term ''municipality' ...
that consists of 29 lines including 24
rapid transit
Rapid transit or mass rapid transit (MRT) or heavy rail, commonly referred to as metro, is a type of high-capacity public transport that is generally built in urban areas. A grade separation, grade separated rapid transit line below ground su ...
lines, two
airport rail link
An airport rail link is a service providing passenger rail transport between an airport and a nearby city. Direct links operate straight from the airport terminal to the city, while other links require an intermediate use of a people mover or ...
s, one
maglev
Maglev (derived from '' magnetic levitation'') is a system of rail transport whose rolling stock is levitated by electromagnets rather than rolled on wheels, eliminating rolling resistance.
Compared to conventional railways, maglev trains h ...
line and two
light rail tram lines, and
523 stations.
The rail network extends
across
12 urban and suburban districts of Beijing and into
one district of
Langfang
Langfang is a prefecture-level city of Hebei Province of China, Province, China, and was known as Tianjin Prefecture until 1973. It was renamed Langfang Prefecture after Tianjin became a Direct-controlled municipalities of China, municipality ...
in neighboring
Hebei
Hebei is a Provinces of China, province in North China. It is China's List of Chinese administrative divisions by population, sixth-most populous province, with a population of over 75 million people. Shijiazhuang is the capital city. It bor ...
province. In December 2023, Beijing Subway became the
world's longest metro system by route length, surpassing the
Shanghai Metro
The Shanghai Metro (; Shanghainese: ''Zaon6he5 Di6thiq7'') is a rapid transit system in Shanghai, operating urban and suburban transit services to 14 of its 16 List of township-level divisions of Shanghai, municipal districts and to the neighb ...
. With 3.8484 billion trips delivered in 2018 (10.544 million trips per day
) and single-day ridership record of 13.7538 million set on July 12, 2019,
the Beijing Subway was the
world's busiest metro system in the years immediately prior to the outbreak of the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
.
The Beijing Subway opened in 1971 and is the oldest metro system in
mainland China
"Mainland China", also referred to as "the Chinese mainland", is a Geopolitics, geopolitical term defined as the territory under direct administration of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in the aftermath of the Chinese Civil War. In addit ...
and on the mainland of
East Asia
East Asia is a geocultural region of Asia. It includes China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan, plus two special administrative regions of China, Hong Kong and Macau. The economies of Economy of China, China, Economy of Ja ...
. Before the system began its rapid expansion in 2002, the subway had only two lines. The existing network still cannot adequately meet the city's
mass transit
Public transport (also known as public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) are forms of transport available to the general public. It typically uses a fixed schedule, route and charges a fixed fare. There is no rigid definition of whi ...
needs. Beijing Subway's extensive expansion plans call for
of lines serving a projected 18.5 million trips every day when Phase 2 Construction Plan finished (around 2025).
The most recent expansion came into effect on December 15, 2024, with the openings of
Line 3 and
Line 12 and an extension of the
Changping line.
Fares
Fare schedules
Single-ride fare
The Beijing Subway charges single-ride fare according to trip distance for all lines except the two airport express lines.
* For all lines except the two airport express lines, fares start at ¥3 for a trip up to 6 km in distance, with ¥1 added for the next 6 km, for every 10 km thereafter until the trip distance reaches 32 km, and for every 20 km beyond the first 32 km.
A 40 km trip would cost ¥7.
* The
Capital Airport Express has a fixed fare of ¥25 per ride.
* The
Daxing Airport Express is the only line to maintain class-based fares with ordinary class fare varying with distance from ¥10 to ¥35 and business class fare fixed at ¥50 per ride.
Same-station transfers are free on all subway lines except the two Airport Express lines, the
Xijiao Line
The Xijiao Line of the Beijing Subway, also called No. 29 Line () is a light rail line in Haidian District of Beijing. It runs west and north from Bagou station, Bagou on Line 10 (Beijing Subway), Line 10 to the Fragrant Hills station (Beijing ...
and the
Yizhuang T1 Line, which require the purchase of a new fare when transferring to or from those lines.
Fare free riders
Children below in height ride for free when accompanied by a paying adult. Senior citizens over the age of 65, individuals with physical disabilities, retired revolutionary cadres, police and army veterans who had been wounded in action, military personnel and
People's Armed Police
)
, abbreviation = PAP ("People's Armed Police") CAPF ("Chinese Armed Police Force"), formerly abbreviated''Wujing'' ( zh , s = 武警 , p = Wǔjǐng , l = Armed Police , labels = no ), or WJ as on vehicle license plates
, patch ...
can ride the subway for free.
Unlimited-rides fare
Since January 20, 2019, riders can purchase unlimited rides fare tickets using the Yitongxing (亿通行; ) app on smartphones, which generates a QR code with effective periods of one to seven days.
Previous fare schedules
On December 28, 2014, the Beijing Subway switched from a fixed-fare schedule to the current distance-based fare schedule for all lines except the
Capital Airport Express.
[Beijing to Increase Public Transportation Fare Prices Next, CRI](_blank)
November 27, 2014 Prior to the December 28, 2014, fare increase, passengers paid a flat rate of
RMB(¥) 2.00 (including unlimited fare-free transfers) for all lines except the
Capital Airport Express, which cost ¥25, The flat fare was the lowest among
metro systems in China.
Before the flat fare schedule was introduced on October 7, 2007, fares ranged from ¥3 to ¥7, depending on the line and number of transfers.
Fare collection
Each station has two to fifteen ticket vending machines. Ticket vending machines on all lines can add credit to ''
Yikatong'' cards. Single-ride tickets take the form of an RFID-enabled flexible plastic card.
Passengers must insert the ticket or scan the card at the gate both before entering and exiting the station. The subway's fare collection gates accept single-ride tickets and the ''
Yikatong'' fare card. Passengers can purchase tickets and add credit to ''Yikatong'' card at ticket counters or vending machines in every station. The ''Yikatong'', also known as Beijing Municipal Administration & Communication Card (BMAC), is an
integrated circuit card that stores credit for the subway,
urban and suburban buses and e-money for other purchases. The ''Yikatong'' card itself must be purchased at the ticket counter. To enter a station, the ''Yikatong'' card must have a minimum balance of ¥3.00. Upon exiting the system, single-ride tickets are inserted into the turnstile, which are reused by the system.
To prevent fraud, passengers are required to complete their journeys within four hours upon entering the subway.
[ If the four-hour limit is exceeded, a surcharge of ¥3 is imposed. Each ''Yikatong'' card is allowed to be overdrawn once. The overdrawn amount is deducted when credits are added to the card.
''Yikatong'' card users who spend more than ¥100 on subway fare in a calendar month will receive credits to their card the following month.] After reaching ¥100 of spending in one calendar month, 20% of any further spending up to ¥150 will be credited. When spending exceeds ¥150, 50% of any further spending up to ¥250 will be credited. Once expenditures exceed ¥400, further spending won't earn any more credits. The credits are designed to ease commuters' burdens of fare increases.
Beginning in June 2017, single-journey tickets could be purchased via a phone app. A May 2018 upgrade allowed entrance via scanning a QR code from the same app.
Lines in operation
Beijing Subway lines generally follow the checkerboard layout of the city. Most lines through the urban core (outlined by the Line 10 loop) run parallel or perpendicular to each other and intersect at right angles.
Lines through the urban core
The urban core of Beijing is roughly outlined by the Line 10 loop, which runs underneath or just beyond the 3rd Ring Road. Each of the following lines provides extensive service within the Line 10 loop. All have connections to seven or more lines. Lines 1, 4, 5, 6, 8, and 19 also run through the Line 2 loop, marking the old Ming-Qing era city of Beijing.
* Line 1: straight east–west line underneath Chang'an Avenue
file:50th anniversary of PRC 1.jpg, 250px, Chang'an Avenue hosts military parades. Here are armoured fighting vehicles leaving Tian'anmen Square during the 50th anniversary of the People's Republic of China, 1999 National Day parade.
Chang'an ...
, bisecting the city through Tiananmen Square
Tiananmen Square or Tian'anmen Square () is a city square in the city center of Beijing, China, named after the Tiananmen ("''Gate of Heavenly Peace''") located to its north, which separates it from the Forbidden City. The square contains th ...
. Line 1 connects major commercial centres, Xidan, Wangfujing, Dongdan and the Beijing CBD.
* Line 2: the inner rectangular loop line that traces the Ming-era
The Ming dynasty, officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming was the last imperial dynasty of ...
inner city wall
A defensive wall is a fortification usually used to protect a city, town or other settlement from potential aggressors. The walls can range from simple palisades or Earthworks (military), earthworks to extensive military fortifications such as ...
which once surrounded the inner city, with stops at 11 of the wall's former gates (ending in ''men''), now busy intersections on the 2nd Ring Road, as well as the Beijing railway station.
* Line 3 runs from the eastern edge of the inner city to the northeast, through Sanlitun, Chaoyang Park and Chaoyang Station.
* Line 4: mainly north–south line running to the west of city centre with stops at the Summer Palace
The Summer Palace () is a vast ensemble of lakes, gardens and palaces in Beijing. It was an imperial garden during the Qing dynasty. Inside includes Longevity Hill () Kunming Lake and Seventeen Hole Bridge. It covers an expanse of , three-quar ...
, Old Summer Palace
The Old Summer Palace, also known as Yuanmingyuan () or Yuanmingyuan Park, originally called the Imperial Gardens (), and sometimes called the Winter Palace, was a complex of palaces and gardens in present-day Haidian District, Beijing, China. I ...
, Peking
Beijing, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's most populous national capital city as well as China's second largest city by urban area after Shanghai. It is l ...
and Renmin Universities, Zhongguancun
Zhongguancun ( Chinese: 中关村) is a major technology hub in the Haidian District, Beijing, China.
Zhongguancun occupies a band between the northwestern Third Ring Road and the northwestern Fourth Ring Road in the northwestern part of Bei ...
, National Library
A national library is a library established by a government as a country's preeminent repository of information. Unlike public library, public libraries, these rarely allow citizens to borrow books. Often, they include numerous rare, valuable, ...
, Beijing Zoo
Beijing Zoo is a zoological park in Xizhimen, Xicheng District, Beijing. Founded in 1906 during the late Qing dynasty, it is the oldest zoo in China and oldest public park in northern China. The zoo is also a center of zoological research that ...
, Xidan, Taoranting and Beijing South railway station.
* Line 5: straight north–south line running to the east of the city centre. Line 5 passes the Temple of Earth, Yonghe Temple and the Temple of Heaven
The Temple of Heaven () is a complex of imperial Religious Confucianism, religious Confucian buildings situated in the southeastern part of central Beijing. The complex was visited by the Emperor of China, Emperors of the Ming dynasty, Ming and ...
.
* Line 6: east–west line running parallel and to the north of Line 1, passing through the city centre north of Beihai Park
Beihai Park is a public park and former imperial garden immediately northwest of the Forbidden City in Beijing, China.
First built in the 12th century, Beihai is among the largest of all surviving Chinese gardens and contains numerous histo ...
. At 53.4 km, Line 6 is the second longest Beijing Subway line after Line 10, and runs from Shijingshan District in the west to the Beijing City Sub-Center in Tongzhou District, terminating at Lucheng just beyond the eastern 6th Ring Road.
* Line 7: east–west line running parallel and to the south of Line 1, from Beijing West railway station to . Line 7 serves the old neighborhoods of southern Beijing with stops at , Caishikou and .
* Line 8: north–south line following the Beijing's central axis from Changping District through Huilongguan, the Olympic Green, Shichahai
Shichahai () is a historic scenic area consisting of three lakes in the north of central Beijing. They are located directly northwest of the Forbidden City and north of the Beihai Lake. Shichahai consists of the following three lakes: Qianhai () ...
and Nanluoguxiang, where the line veers east of the Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square with stops at the National Art Museum and Wangfujing before returning to the central axis at Qianmen and continuing due south through Zhushikou and Yongdingmen to Heyi before turning southwest to Yinghai in Daxing District.
* Line 9: north–south line running to the west of Line 4 from the National Library
A national library is a library established by a government as a country's preeminent repository of information. Unlike public library, public libraries, these rarely allow citizens to borrow books. Often, they include numerous rare, valuable, ...
through the Military Museum and Beijing West railway station to Guogongzhuang in the southwestern suburbs.
* Line 10, the outer loop line running beneath or just beyond the Third Ring Road. Apart from the Line 2 loop, which is entirely enclosed within the Line 10 loop, every other line through the urban core intersects with Line 10. In the north, Line 10 traces Beijing's Yuan-era
The Yuan dynasty ( ; zh, c=元朝, p=Yuáncháo), officially the Great Yuan (; Mongolian language, Mongolian: , , literally 'Great Yuan State'), was a Mongol-led imperial dynasty of China and a successor state to the Mongol Empire after Div ...
city wall. In the east, Line 10 passes through the Beijing CBD.
* Line 12 follows the northern section of the 3rd Ring Road and then further east into Chaoyang.
* Line 13 arcs across suburbs north of the city and transports commuters to Xizhimen and Dongzhimen, at the northwest and northeast corners of Line 2.
* Line 14: inverted-L shaped line that connects the southwest, southeast and northeast parts of the city. From in the southwest, Line 14 runs due west and enters the Line 10 loop at Xiju and passing through the Beijing South Railway Station, Yongdingmenwai, Puhuangyu, Fangzhuang and leaves the Line 10 loop at Shilihe before turning north at Beijing University of Technology and running south - north outside the Line 10 loop through the Beijing CBD, Chaoyang Park and Jiuxianqiao to Wangjing in the northeast.
* Line 16: line from the northwest suburbs of Haidian District
Haidian () is a northwest urban district of Beijing, bordering Xicheng, Beijing, Xicheng and Fengtai, Beijing, Fengtai.
It is in area, making it the second-largest district in urban Beijing area (after Chaoyang, Beijing, Chaoyang), and is home ...
north of the Baiwang Mountain that runs mostly north - south upon entering Line 10 into and , then continuing south through and , before entering and . It then turns west through before ending at in Fengtai District
Fengtai District ( zh, s=丰台区, p=Fēngtái Qū) is a district of the city of Beijing. It lies mostly to the southwest of the city center, extending into the city's southwestern suburbs beyond the 6th Ring Road, Sixth Ring Road, but also to th ...
.
* Line 19: north–south line from to with stops inside the Line 2 loop at and near Beijing Financial Street.
Lines serving outlying suburbs
Each of the following lines provides service predominantly to one or more of the suburbs beyond the 5th Ring Road
Beijing's 5th Ring Road (, China Road Numbering: S50 (Beijing) is a Ring roads of Beijing, ring road encircling the city about away from the city centre. It takes the form of an expressway and is in length. Being a ring road, it has no natur ...
. Lines 15, S1 along with the Changping, Daxing, Yanfang lines extend beyond the 6th Ring Road.
* Line 11 currently runs from to in Shijingshan District.
*Line 15 Line 15 may refer to:
* Line 15 (Beijing Subway)
* Line 15 (Paris Metro)
* Line 15 (Shanghai Metro)
* Line 15 (São Paulo Metro)
* Helsinki light rail line 15
*
{{disamb ...
east–west line which runs between the northern 4th and 5th Ring Road from the east of Tsinghua University
Tsinghua University (THU) is a public university in Haidian, Beijing, China. It is affiliated with and funded by the Ministry of Education of China. The university is part of Project 211, Project 985, and the Double First-Class Constructio ...
, through the Olympic Green and Wangjing, turning northeast to suburban Shunyi District.
* Line 17 currently runs from to in its south section, mainly serving Tongzhou District, whilst the north section currently runs from to , mainly serving Changping District and northern Chaoyang District.
* Batong line extends Line 1 eastward from Sihui
Sihui (), formerly romanized as Szewui, is a county-level city in the west of the Pearl River Delta region in Guangdong province, China. It is administered as part of the prefecture-level city
A prefecture-level city () or prefectural ...
to suburban Tongzhou District.
* Changping line starts at in Haidian District
Haidian () is a northwest urban district of Beijing, bordering Xicheng, Beijing, Xicheng and Fengtai, Beijing, Fengtai.
It is in area, making it the second-largest district in urban Beijing area (after Chaoyang, Beijing, Chaoyang), and is home ...
, passing through and before intersecting with Line 13 at and , and then running north through suburban Changping District. The line then passes the , , and the .
* Daxing line extends Line 4 south to suburban Daxing District.
* Fangshan line goes from in Fengtai District
Fengtai District ( zh, s=丰台区, p=Fēngtái Qū) is a district of the city of Beijing. It lies mostly to the southwest of the city center, extending into the city's southwestern suburbs beyond the 6th Ring Road, Sixth Ring Road, but also to th ...
to in Fangshan District
Fangshan District () is a district of the city of Beijing. It is situated in the southwest of Beijing, away from downtown Beijing. It has an area of and a population of 1,312,778 (2020 Census). The district is divided into 8 subdistricts, 14 tow ...
in the southwestern suburbs.
* Yanfang line extends from the end of the Fangshan line further into western Fangshan District
Fangshan District () is a district of the city of Beijing. It is situated in the southwest of Beijing, away from downtown Beijing. It has an area of and a population of 1,312,778 (2020 Census). The district is divided into 8 subdistricts, 14 tow ...
.
* Yizhuang line extends from Line 5's southern terminus to the Yizhuang Economic & Technological Development Zone in the southeastern suburbs.
* Capital Airport Express connects the Beijing Capital International Airport, northeast of the city, with Line 5 at Beixinqiao, Lines 10 and 12 at Sanyuanqiao and Lines 2 and 13 at Dongzhimen.
* Daxing Airport Express connects the Beijing Daxing International Airport
Beijing Daxing International Airport is one of two international airports serving Beijing, the capital of China (the other being Beijing Capital International Airport).
The airport is located on the border of Beijing and Langfang, Hebe ...
, south of the city, with Lines 10 and 19 at Caoqiao.
* Line S1, a low-speed maglev line connecting suburban Mentougou District with Line 6 in Shijingshan District.
*Xijiao line
The Xijiao Line of the Beijing Subway, also called No. 29 Line () is a light rail line in Haidian District of Beijing. It runs west and north from Bagou station, Bagou on Line 10 (Beijing Subway), Line 10 to the Fragrant Hills station (Beijing ...
, a light rail line that branches off Line 10 at Bagou and extends west to .
* Yizhuang T1 line, a light rail line runs from Quzhuang in Daxing District to Dinghaiyuan in Tongzhou District.
File:Platform of Tian'anmen East Station (20210909134053).jpg, Tian'anmen East station of Line 1
File:Platform_of_L2_Dongzhimen_Station_(20220131182144).jpg, Dongzhimen station of Line 2
File:Platform of L3 Chaoyang Park Station (20241217172125).jpg, Chaoyang Park station of Line 3
File:Platform_of_Beijing_Zoo_Station_(20210202172712).jpg, Beijing Zoo station of Line 4
File:Zhangzizhonglu Station platform, Line 5 (1).jpg, Zhangzizhonglu station of Line 5
File:Platform_of_Xihuangcun_Station_(20210623193638).jpg, Xihuangcun station of Line 6
File:Platform_of_Langxinzhuang_Station_(20240229173235).jpg, Langxinzhuang station of Line 7
File:Platform_of_Jinyu_Hutong_Station_(20220104160829).jpg, Jinyu Hutong station of Line 8
File:Platform_of_Fengtai_Dongdajie_Station_(20220330184216).jpg, Fengtai Dongdajie station of Line 9
File:ANZHENMEN_Station_Platform_(South_side)_20130813.jpg, Anzhenmen station of Line 10
File:Platform_of_Beixin'an_Station_(20211231200828).jpg, Beixin'an station of Line 11
File:Platform_of_L12_Changchunqiao_Station_(20241218170501).jpg, Changchun Qiao station of Line 12
File:Line_13_eastbound_platform,_Beiyuan_Station_20241221074120.jpg, Bei Yuan station of Line 13
File:Platform_of_Dongguantou_Station_(20220104164801).jpg, Dongguantou station of Line 14
File:Maquanying_Station_Platform_20210501.jpg, Maquanying station of Line 15
File:Platform_of_Ganjiakou_Station_(20220212182306).jpg, Ganjiakou station of Line 16
File:Platform_of_Future_Science_City_Station_(20240101142457).jpg, Future Science City station of Line 17
File:Platform_of_Niujie_Station_(20220106155525).jpg, Niujie station of Line 19
File:Platform_of_Xiaohongmen_Station_(20240106155240).jpg, Xiaohong Men station of Yizhuang Line
File:Northbound_platform_of_Baipenyao_Station_(20210101171806).jpg, Baipenyao station of Fangshan Line
File:Platform_of_Magezhuang_Station_(20180120164901).jpg, Magezhuang station of Yanfang Line
File:Westbound platform of S1 Shang'an Station (20220103153437).jpg, Shang'an station of Line S1
File:Platform_of_CPL_Liudaokou_Station_(20230204144225).jpg, Liudaokou station of Changping Line
File:Platform_of_Terminal_3_Station_(20201112171746).jpg, 3 Hao Hangzhanlou (Terminal 3) station of Capital Airport Express
File:Platform_of_Daxing_Airport_Subway_Station,_departures_(20210615164750).jpg, Daxing Jichang (Daxing Airport) station of Daxing Airport Express
File:Wan'an_Station_(20171221125957).jpg, Wan'an Station of Xijiao Line
File:Yizhuang_T1_tram_at_Rongchang_Dongjie.jpg, Rongchang Dongjie station of Yizhuang T1 Line
Future expansion
Phase II
According to the Phase 2 construction plan approved by the NDRC in 2015, the length of Beijing Subway will reach when the Phase 2 construction finished. By then, public transit will comprise 60% of all trips. Of those, the subway will comprise 62%. The adjustment of the Phase 2 construction plan was approved by the NDRC on December 5, 2019. Which altered and expanded some projects in the Phase 2 construction plan. Including adjusting alignments of Line 22 and Line 28 and additional projects such as the Daxing Airport Line north extension, the west section of Line 11 and transforming Line 13 into two lines, 13A and 13B.
Phase III (2022–2027)
According to the information released in July 2022, the "Beijing Rail Transit Phase III Construction Plan" includes 11 construction projects: Line 1 Branch, Line 7 Phase 3, Line 11 Phase 2, Line 15 Phase 2, Line 17 Phase 2 (Branch), Line 19 Phase 2, Line 20 Phase 1, Fangshan line (Line 25) Phase 3 (also known as Lijin Line), Line M101 Phase 1, Line S6 (New Town Link Line) Phase 1, and the connecting line between Yizhuang line, Line 5 and Line 10.
Owner and operators
The Beijing Subway is owned by the Beijing Municipal People's Government through the Beijing Infrastructure Investment Co., LTD, (北京市基础设施投资有限公司 or BIIC), a wholly owned subsidiary of the Beijing State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (北京市人民政府国有资产监督管理委员会 or Beijing SASAC), the municipal government's asset holding entity.
The Beijing Subway was originally developed and controlled by the Central Government
A central government is the government that is a controlling power over a unitary state. Another distinct but sovereign political entity is a federal government, which may have distinct powers at various levels of government, authorized or deleg ...
. The subway's construction and planning was headed by a special committee of the State Council. In February 1970, Premier Zhou Enlai
Zhou Enlai ( zh, s=周恩来, p=Zhōu Ēnlái, w=Chou1 Ên1-lai2; 5 March 1898 – 8 January 1976) was a Chinese statesman, diplomat, and revolutionary who served as the first Premier of the People's Republic of China from September 1954 unti ...
handed management of the subway to the People's Liberation Army
The People's Liberation Army (PLA) is the military of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the People's Republic of China (PRC). It consists of four Military branch, services—People's Liberation Army Ground Force, Ground Force, People's ...
, which formed the PLA Rail Engineering Corp Beijing Subway Management Bureau. In November 1975, by order of the State Council and Central Military Commission the bureau was placed under the authority of Beijing Municipal Transportation Department.
On April 20, 1981, the bureau became the Beijing Subway Company, which was a subsidiary of the Beijing Public Transportation Company.
In July 2001, the Beijing Municipal Government reorganized the subway company into the Beijing Subway Group Company Ltd., a wholly city-owned holding company, which assumed ownership of all of the subway's assets.[ In November 2003, the assets of the Beijing Subway Group Company were transferred to the newly created BIIC.
The Beijing Subway has five operators:
#The main operator is the wholly state-owned Beijing Mass Transit Railway Operation Corp. (北京市地铁运营有限公司 or Beijing Subway OpCo), which was formed in the reorganization of the original Beijing Subway Group Company in 2001, and operates 15 lines: Lines 1, 2, 5–10, 13, 15, Batong line, Changping line, Fangshan line, Yizhuang line and S1 line.
#The Beijing MTR Corp. (北京京港地铁有限公司 or Beijing MTR), a public–private ]joint venture
A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four reasons: to acce ...
formed in 2005 by and among Beijing Capital Group, a state company under Beijing SASAC (with 49% equity ownership), MTR Corporation
MTR Corporation Limited is a majority government-owned public transport operator and property developer in Hong Kong which operates the Mass Transit Railway, the most popular public transport network in Hong Kong. It is listed on the Hong K ...
of Hong Kong (49%), and BIIC (2%), and operates four lines: Lines 4, 14, 16 and Line 17 and Daxing line.
#The (北京市轨道交通运营管理有限公司 or BJMOA), a subsidiary of Beijing Metro Construction Administration Corporation Ltd. (北京市轨道交通建设管理有限公司 or BJMCA) also under Beijing SASAC, became the third company to obtain operation rights for the Beijing Subway in 2015. The BJMOA operates the Yanfang line, Daxing Airport Express, and Line 19. Its corporate parent, BJMCA, is a general contractor for Beijing Subway construction.
#The Beijing Public Transit Tramway Co., Ltd. (北京公交有轨电车有限公司), formed in 2017, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Beijing Public Transport Corporation (北京公共交通控股(集团)有限公司 or BPTC) that operates the Xijiao line
The Xijiao Line of the Beijing Subway, also called No. 29 Line () is a light rail line in Haidian District of Beijing. It runs west and north from Bagou station, Bagou on Line 10 (Beijing Subway), Line 10 to the Fragrant Hills station (Beijing ...
. Its corporate parent, BPTC, is the city's main public bus operator.
#The (北京京城地铁有限公司), also branded as "Capital Metro" (京城地铁) in their official logo, operates the Capital Airport Express. Beijing City Metro Ltd. is a joint venture established on February 15, 2016, between Beijing Subway OpCo (51%) and BII Railway Transportation Technology Holdings Company Limited (49%)(京投轨道交通科技控股有限公司), a Hong Kong listed company (1522.HK) controlled by BIIC. On March 27, 2017, Beijing City Metro Ltd. acquired a 30-year right to operate the Capital Airport Express and sections of the Dongzhimen subway station.
Rolling stock
All subway train sets run on standard gauge
A standard-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge of . The standard gauge is also called Stephenson gauge (after George Stephenson), international gauge, UIC gauge, uniform gauge, normal gauge in Europe, and SGR in East Africa. It is the ...
rail, except the maglev trains on Line S1, which run on a maglev track. Beijing Subway operates Type B trains on most lines. However, due to increasing congestion on the network, high capacity Type A trains are increasingly being used. Additionally, Type D trains are being used in express subway lines.
Until 2003 nearly all trains were manufactured by the CRRC Changchun Railway Vehicles Co., Ltd., now a division of the CRRC
CRRC Corporation Limited (known as CRRC) is a Chinese state-owned and publicly traded rolling stock manufacturer. It is the world's largest rolling stock manufacturer in terms of revenue, eclipsing its major competitors of Alstom and Siemens. ...
. The newest Line 1 trains and those on Lines 4, 8, Batong, Changping and Daxing are made by CRRC Qingdao Sifang Co., Ltd. Line S1's maglev trains were produced by CRRC Tangshan.
The Beijing Subway Rolling Stock Equipment Co. Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of the Beijing Mass Transit Railway Operation Corp. Ltd., provides local assemblage, maintenance and repair services.
Automated lines
There will be 6 fully automated
Automation describes a wide range of technologies that reduce human intervention in processes, mainly by predetermining decision criteria, subprocess relationships, and related actions, as well as embodying those predeterminations in machine ...
lines at the level of GoA4, including 4 lines in operation (the Yanfang line, Line 17 and Line 19 and the Daxing Airport Express) and 2 lines under construction ( Line 3 and Line 12), using domestically developed communications-based train control
Communications-based train control (CBTC) is a railway signaling system that uses telecommunications between the train and track equipment for traffic management and infrastructure control. CBTC allows a train's position to be known more accura ...
systems.
History
1953–1965: origins
The subway was proposed in September 1953 by the city's planning committee and experts from the Soviet Union
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
. After the end of the Korean War
The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...
, Chinese leaders turned their attention to domestic reconstruction. They were keen to expand Beijing's mass transit capacity but also valued the subway as an asset for civil defense. They studied the use of the Moscow Metro
The Moscow Metro) is a rapid transit system in the Moscow Oblast of Russia. It serves the capital city of Moscow and the neighbouring cities of Krasnogorsk, Moscow Oblast, Krasnogorsk, Reutov, Lyubertsy, and Kotelniki. Opened in 1935 with one l ...
to protect civilians, move troops and headquarter military command posts during the Battle of Moscow
The Battle of Moscow was a military campaign that consisted of two periods of strategically significant fighting on a sector of the Eastern Front during World War II, between October 1941 and January 1942. The Soviet defensive effort frustrated H ...
, and planned the Beijing Subway for both civilian and military use.[
At that time, the Chinese lacked expertise in building subways and drew heavily on Soviet and ]East German
East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from its formation on 7 October 1949 until its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on 3 October 1990. Until 1989, it was generally vie ...
technical assistance. In 1954, a delegation of Soviet engineers, including some who had built the Moscow Metro, was invited to plan the subway in Beijing.[ From 1953 to 1960, several thousand Chinese university students were sent to the Soviet Union to study subway construction.][ An early plan unveiled in 1957 called for one ring route and six other lines with 114 stations and of track.][ Two routes vied for the first to be built. One ran east–west from Wukesong to Hongmiao, underneath Changan Avenue. The other ran north–south from the Summer Palace to Zhongshan Park, via Xizhimen and Xisi. The former was chosen due to more favorable geological foundation and greater number of government bureaus served. The second route would not be built until construction on Line 4 began forty years later.
The original proposal called for deep subway tunnels that can better serve military functions.] Between Gongzhufen and Muxidi
Muxidi Station () is a station on Line 1 of the Beijing Subway. The Line 16 station opened on December 31, 2022, and currently serves as an out-of-system interchange (OSI) with Line 1. It will connect with Line 18 in the future.
Station lay ...
, shafts as deep as were being dug.[ The world's deepest subway station at the time in the ]Kyiv Metro
The Kyiv Metro (, ) is a rapid transit system in Kyiv, Ukraine, owned by the Kyiv City Council and operated by the city-owned company Kyivskyi Metropoliten''.'' It was initially opened on 6 November 1960, as a single line with five stations. I ...
was only deep.[ But Beijing's high ]water table
The water table is the upper surface of the phreatic zone or zone of saturation. The zone of saturation is where the pores and fractures of the ground are saturated with groundwater, which may be fresh, saline, or brackish, depending on the loc ...
and high pressure head
In fluid mechanics, pressure head is the height of a liquid column that corresponds to a particular pressure exerted by the liquid column on the base of its container. It may also be called static pressure head or simply static head (but not ''sta ...
of ground water which complicated construction and posed risk of leakage, and along with the inconvenience of transporting passengers long distances from the surface, led the authorities to abandon the deep tunnel plan in May 1960 in favor of cut-and-cover
A tunnel is an underground or undersea passageway. It is dug through surrounding soil, earth or rock, or laid under water, and is usually completely enclosed except for the two Portal (architecture), portals common at each end, though ther ...
shallow tunnels some below the surface.[
The deterioration of relations between China and Soviet Union disrupted subway planning. Soviet experts began to leave in 1960, and were completely withdrawn by 1963.][News.xinhuanet.com]
''Id.'' Part 2 In 1961, the entire project was halted temporarily due to severe hardships caused by the Great Leap Forward
The Great Leap Forward was an industrialization campaign within China from 1958 to 1962, led by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Party Chairman Mao Zedong launched the campaign to transform the country from an agrarian society into an indu ...
. Eventually, planning work resumed. The route of the initial line was shifted westward to create an underground conduit to move personnel from the heart of the capital to the Western Hills. On February 4, 1965, Chairman Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong pronounced ; traditionally Romanization of Chinese, romanised as Mao Tse-tung. (26December 18939September 1976) was a Chinese politician, revolutionary, and political theorist who founded the People's Republic of China (PRC) in ...
personally approved the project.
1965–1981: the slow beginning
Construction began on July 1, 1965, at a groundbreaking
Groundbreaking, also known as cutting, sod-cutting, turning the first sod, turf-cutting, or a sod-turning ceremony, is a traditional ceremony in many cultures that celebrates the first day of construction for a building or other project. Such cer ...
ceremony attended by several national leaders including Zhu De
Zhu De; (1 December 1886 – 6 July 1976) was a Chinese general, military strategist, politician and revolutionary in the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
Zhu was born into poverty in 1886 in Sichuan. He was adopted by a wealthy uncle at ...
, Deng Xiaoping
Deng Xiaoping also Romanization of Chinese, romanised as Teng Hsiao-p'ing; born Xiansheng (). (22 August 190419 February 1997) was a Chinese statesman, revolutionary, and political theorist who served as the paramount leader of the People's R ...
, and Beijing mayor Peng Zhen
Peng Zhen (pronounced ; October 12, 1902 – April 26, 1997) was a Chinese politician and leading member of the Chinese Communist Party. He led the party organization in Beijing following the victory of the Communists in the Chinese Civil War i ...
. The most controversial outcome of the initial subway line was the demolition of the Beijing's historic inner city wall to make way for the subway. Construction plans for the subway from Fuxingmen to the Beijing Railway Station called for the removal of the wall, as well as the gates and archery towers at Hepingmen, Qianmen, and Chongwenmen. Leading architect Liang Sicheng
Liang Sicheng ( zh, c=梁思成; 20 April 1901 – 9 January 1972) was a Chinese architect and architectural historian, known as the father of modern Chinese architecture. His father, Liang Qichao, was one of the most prominent Chinese scholar ...
argued for protecting the wall as a landmark of the ancient capital. Chairman Mao favored demolishing the wall over demolishing homes. In the end, Premier Zhou Enlai
Zhou Enlai ( zh, s=周恩来, p=Zhōu Ēnlái, w=Chou1 Ên1-lai2; 5 March 1898 – 8 January 1976) was a Chinese statesman, diplomat, and revolutionary who served as the first Premier of the People's Republic of China from September 1954 unti ...
managed to preserve several walls and gates, such as the Qianmen gate and its arrow tower by slightly altering the course of the subway.
The initial line was completed and began trial operations in time to mark the 20th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic on October 1, 1969. It ran from Gucheng to the Beijing Railway Station and had 16 stations. This line forms parts of present-day Lines 1 and 2. It was the first subway to be built in China, and predates the metros of Hong Kong
Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...
, Seoul
Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...
, Singapore
Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...
, San Francisco
San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...
, and Washington, D.C., but technical problems would plague the project for the next decade.
Initially, the subway hosted guest visits. On November 11, 1969, an electrical fire killed three people, injured over 100 and destroyed two cars. Premier Zhou Enlai
Zhou Enlai ( zh, s=周恩来, p=Zhōu Ēnlái, w=Chou1 Ên1-lai2; 5 March 1898 – 8 January 1976) was a Chinese statesman, diplomat, and revolutionary who served as the first Premier of the People's Republic of China from September 1954 unti ...
placed the subway under the control of the People's Liberation Army
The People's Liberation Army (PLA) is the military of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the People's Republic of China (PRC). It consists of four Military branch, services—People's Liberation Army Ground Force, Ground Force, People's ...
in early 1970, but reliability problems persisted.
On January 15, 1971, the initial line began operation on a trial basis between the Beijing railway station and . Single ride fare was set at ¥0.10 and only members of the public with credential letters from their work units could purchase tickets. The line was in length, had 10 stations and operated more than 60 train trips per day with a minimum wait time of 14 minutes. On August 15, the initial line was extended to and had 13 stations over . On November 7, the line was extended again, to Gucheng Lu, and had 16 stations over . The number of trains per day rose to 100. Overall, the line delivered 8.28 million rides in 1971, averaging 28,000 riders per day.
From 1971 to 1975, the subway was shut down for 398 days for political reasons. On December 27, 1972, the riders no longer needed to present credential letters to purchase tickets. In 1972, the subway delivered 15 million rides and averaged 41,000 riders per day. In 1973, the line was extended to and reached in length with 17 stations and 132 train trips per day. The line delivered 11 million rides in 1973, averaging 54,000 riders per day.
Despite its return to civilian control in 1976, the subway remained prone to closures due to fires, flooding, and accidents. Annual ridership grew from 22.2 million in 1976 and 28.4 million in 1977 to 30.9 million in 1978, and 55.2 million in 1980.
1981–2000: two lines for two decades
On April 20, 1981, the Beijing Subway Company, then a subsidiary of the Beijing Public Transportation Company, was organized to take over subway operations. On September 15, 1981, the initial line passed its final inspections, and was handed over to the Beijing Subway Company, ending a decade of trial operations. It had 19 stations and ran from Fushouling in the Western Hills to the Beijing railway station. Investment in the project totaled ¥706 million. Annual ridership rose from 64.7 million in 1981 and 72.5 million in 1982 to 82 million in 1983.
On September 20, 1984, a second line was opened to the public. This horseshoe-shaped line was created from the eastern half of the initial line and corresponds to the southern half of the present-day Line 2. It ran from to with 16 stations. Ridership reached 105 million in 1985.
On December 28, 1987, the two existing lines were reconfigured into Lines 1, which ran from Pingguoyuan to Fuxingmen and Line 2, in its current loop, tracing the Ming city wall. Fares doubled to ¥0.20 for single-line rides and ¥0.30 for rides with transfers. Ridership reached 307 million in 1988. The subway was closed from June 3–4, 1989 during the suppression of the Tiananmen Square demonstrations. In 1990, the subway carried more than one million riders per day for the first time, as total ridership reached 381 million. After a fare hike to ¥0.50 in 1991, annual ridership declined slightly to 371 million.
On January 26, 1991, planning began on the eastward extension of Line 1 under Chang'an Avenue
file:50th anniversary of PRC 1.jpg, 250px, Chang'an Avenue hosts military parades. Here are armoured fighting vehicles leaving Tian'anmen Square during the 50th anniversary of the People's Republic of China, 1999 National Day parade.
Chang'an ...
from Fuxingmen. The project was funded by a 19.2 billion yen low-interest development assistance loan from Japan.[ P1:1991-1993] Construction began on the eastern extension on June 24, 1992, and the Xidan station opened on December 12, 1992. The remaining extension to was completed on September 28, 1999.[ P2: 1994-1997] National leaders Wen Jiabao
Wen Jiabao ( zh, s=温家宝, p=Wēn Jiābǎo; born 15 September 1942) is a Chinese retired politician who served as the 6th premier of China from 2003 to 2013. In his capacity as head of government, Wen was regarded as the leading figure behin ...
, Jia Qinglin, Yu Zhengsheng and mayor Liu Qi were on hand to mark the occasion. The full-length of Line 1 became operational on June 28, 2000.
Despite little track expansion in the early 1990s, ridership grew rapidly to reach a record high of 558 million in 1995, but fell to 444 million the next year when fares rose from ¥0.50 to ¥2.00. After fares rose again to ¥3.00 in 2000, annual ridership fell to 434 million from 481 million in 1999.[ P3:1998-2000]
2001–2008: planning for the Olympics
In the summer of 2001, the city won the bid to host the 2008 Summer Olympics
The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...
and accelerated plans to expand the subway. From 2002 to 2008, the city planned to invest ¥63.8 billion (US$7.69 billion) in subway projects and build an ambitious subway network. The plan, termed "three ring, four horizontal, five vertical and seven radial" in 2007, consisted of 19 lines:
* Three ring lines: 2, 10 and 13
* Four horizontal lines: 1, 6, 7, 14 (West)
* Five vertical lines: 4, 5, 8, 9, 14 (East)
* Seven radial lines: Batong, Changping, Daxing, Fangshan, Shunyi (Line 15), Yizhuang, Line S1
Work on Line 5 had already begun on September 25, 2000. Land clearing for Lines 4 and 10 began in November 2003 and construction commenced by the end of the year. Most new subway construction projects were funded by loans from the Big Four state banks. Line 4 was funded by the Beijing MTR Corporation, a joint-venture with the Hong Kong MTR. To achieve plans for 19 lines and by 2015, the city planned to invest a total of ¥200 billion ($29.2 billion).
The next additions to the subway were surface commuter lines that linked to the north and east of the city. Line 13, a half loop that links the northern suburbs, first opened on the western half from Huilongguan to Xizhimen on September 28, 2002 and the entire line became operational on January 28, 2003. Batong line, built as an extension to Line 1 to Tongzhou District, was opened as a separate line on December 27, 2003. Work on these two lines had begun respectively in December 1999 and 2000. Ridership hit 607 million in 2004.
Line 5 came into operation on October 7, 2007. It was the city's first north–south line, extending from in the south to in the north. On the same day, subway fares were reduced from between ¥3 and ¥7 per trip, depending on the line and number of transfers, to a single flat fare of ¥2 with unlimited transfers. The lower fare policy caused the Beijing Subway to run a deficit of ¥600 million in 2007, which was expected to widen to ¥1 billion in 2008. The Beijing municipal government covered these deficits to encourage mass transit use, and reduce traffic congestion and air pollution. On a total of 655 million rides delivered in 2007, the government's subsidy averaged ¥0.92 per ride.
As part of the urban re-development for the 2008 Olympics, the subway system was significantly expanded.In the summer of 2008, in anticipation of the Summer Olympic Games, three new lines— Line 10 (Phase 1), Line 8 (Phase 1) and the Capital Airport Express—opened on July 19. The use of paper tickets, hand checked by clerks for 38 years, was discontinued and replaced by electronic tickets that are scanned by automatic fare collection machines upon entry and exit of the subway. Stations are outfitted with touch screen vending machines that sell single-ride tickets and multiple-ride '' Yikatong'' fare cards. The subway operated throughout the night from August 8–9, 2008 to accommodate the Opening Ceremonies of the Olympic Games, and is extending evening operations of all lines by one to three hours (to 1-2 a.m.) through the duration of the Games. The subway set a daily ridership record of 4.92 million on August 22, 2008, the day of the Games' closing ceremony. In 2008, total ridership rose by 75% to 1.2 billion.
2008–2015: rapid expansion
After the Chinese government announced a ¥4 trillion economic stimulus package in November 2008, the Beijing urban planning commission further expedited subway building plans, especially for elevated lines to suburban districts that are cheaper to build. In December 2008, the commission moved completion dates of the Yizhuang and Daxing Lines to 2010 from 2012, finalized the route of the Fangshan Line, and unveiled the Changping and Xijiao Lines.
Line 4 started operation on September 28, 2009, bringing subway service to much of western Beijing. It is managed by the MTR Corporation
MTR Corporation Limited is a majority government-owned public transport operator and property developer in Hong Kong which operates the Mass Transit Railway, the most popular public transport network in Hong Kong. It is listed on the Hong K ...
through a joint venture with the city. In 2009, the subway delivered 1.457 billion rides, 19.24% of mass transit trips in Beijing.
In 2010, Beijing's worsening traffic congestion prompted city planners to move the construction of several lines from the 13th Five Year Plan to the 12th Five Year Plan. This meant Lines 8 (Phase III), , , , the Yanfang line, as well as additional lines to Changping District and Tiantongyuan were to begin construction before 2015. Previously, Lines 3, 12 and 16 were being planned for the more distant future. On December 30, 2010, five suburban lines: Lines 15 (Phase I from to except Wangjing East station), Changping, Fangshan (except Guogongzhuang station), Yizhuang (except Yizhuang railway station), and Daxing, commenced operation. The addition of of track, a nearly 50% increase, made the subway the fourth longest metro in the world. One year later, on December 31, 2011, the subway surpassed the New York City Subway
The New York City Subway is a rapid transit system in New York City serving the New York City boroughs, boroughs of Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx. It is owned by the government of New York City and leased to the New York City Tr ...
to become the third longest metro in revenue track length with the extension of Line 8 north from the to , the opening of Line 9 in southwest Beijing from Beijing West railway station to (except , which opened on October 12, 2012), the extension of the Fangshan Line to Guogongzhuang, and the extension of Line 15 Line 15 may refer to:
* Line 15 (Beijing Subway)
* Line 15 (Paris Metro)
* Line 15 (Shanghai Metro)
* Line 15 (São Paulo Metro)
* Helsinki light rail line 15
*
{{disamb ...
from to in central Shunyi. In the same year, the Beijing government unveiled an ambitious expansion plan envisioning the subway network to reach a track density of 0.51 km per km2 (0.82 mi per sq. mi.) inside the Fifth Ring Road where residents would on average have to walk to the nearest subway station. Ridership reached 2.18 billion in 2011.
In February 2012, the city government confirmed that Lines , , , and were under planning as part of Phase II expansion. Retroactively implying that the original three ring, four horizontal, five vertical and seven radial plan was part of Phase I expansion. Line 17 was planned to run north–south, parallel and to the east of Line 5, from Future Science Park North to Yizhuang Zhanqianqu South. Line 19 was planned to run north–south, from Mudanyuan to Xin'gong.
400px, center, Beijing Subway network during the 2008 Summer and 2022 Winter Olympic Games
On December 30, 2012, Line 6 (Phase I from to ), the extension of Line 8 from south to (except ), the remainder of Line 9 (except Military Museum station) and the remainder of the Line 10 loop (except the - section and Jiaomen East station) entered service. The addition of of track increased the network length to and allowed the subway to overtake the Shanghai Metro
The Shanghai Metro (; Shanghainese: ''Zaon6he5 Di6thiq7'') is a rapid transit system in Shanghai, operating urban and suburban transit services to 14 of its 16 List of township-level divisions of Shanghai, municipal districts and to the neighb ...
, for several months, as the world's longest metro. The subway delivered 2.46 billion rides in 2012.
On May 5, 2013, the Line 10 loop was completed with the opening of the Xiju-Shoujingmao section and the Jiaomen East Station. The loop line became the longest underground subway loop in the world. On the same day, the first section of Line 14 from to Xiju also entered operation, ahead of the opening of the Ninth China International Garden Expo in Fengtai District. The subway's total length reached . On December 28, 2013, two sections were added to Line 8, which extended the line north to Zhuxinzhuang and south to Nanluoguxiang. In 2013, the subway delivered 3.209 billion rides, an increase of 30% from the year before.
On December 28, 2014, the subway network expanded by to 18 lines and with the opening of Line 7, the eastern extension of line 6 (from to ), the eastern section of line 14 (from to ), and the western extension of line 15 (from to ). At the same time, the ¥2 flat-rate fare was replaced with a variable-rate fare (a minimum of ¥3), to cover operation costs. In 2014, the subway delivered 3.387 billion rides, an increase of 5.68% from the year before.[ Average daily and weekday ridership also set new highs of 9.2786 million and 10.0876 million, respectively.]
From 2007 to 2014, the cost of subway construction in Beijing rose sharply from ¥0.571 billion per km to ¥1.007 billion per km. The cost includes land acquisition, compensation to relocate residents and firms, actual construction costs and equipment purchase. In 2014, city budgeted ¥15.5 billion for subway construction, and the remainder of subway building costs was financed by the Beijing Infrastructure Investment Co. LTD, a city-owned investment firm.
In 2014, Beijing planning authorities assessed mass transit monorail
A monorail is a Rail transport, railway in which the track consists of a single rail or beam. Colloquially, the term "monorail" is often used to describe any form of elevated rail or people mover. More accurately, the term refers to the style ...
lines for areas of the city in which subway construction or operation is difficult. Straddle beam monorail trains have lower transport capacity and operating speed () than conventional subways, but are quieter to operate, have smaller turning radius and better climbing capability, and cost only one-third to one-half of subways to build. According to the initial environmental assessment report by the Chinese Academy of Rail Sciences, the Yuquanlu Line was planned to have 21 stations over in western Beijing. The line was to begin construction in 2014 and would take two years to complete. The Dongsihuan Line (named for the Eastern Fourth Ring Road it was to follow) was planned to have 21 stations over .
In early 2015, plans for both monorail lines were shelved indefinitely, due to low capacity and resident opposition.[Beijing canceled air train monorail line construction program](_blank)
February 3, 2015 The Yuquanlu Line remains on the city's future transportation plan, and it will be built as a conventional underground subway line. The Dongsihuan Line was replaced by the East extension of Line 7.
On December 26, 2015, the subway network expanded to with the opening of the section of Line 14 from Beijing South railway station to (11 stations; ), Phase II of the Changping line from to (5 stations; ), Andelibeijie station on Line 8, and Datunlu East station on Line 15 Line 15 may refer to:
* Line 15 (Beijing Subway)
* Line 15 (Paris Metro)
* Line 15 (Shanghai Metro)
* Line 15 (São Paulo Metro)
* Helsinki light rail line 15
*
{{disamb ...
. Ridership in 2015 fell by 4% to 3.25 billion due to a fare increase from a flat fare back to a distance based fare.
2015–present: Phase II projects
With the near completion of the three ring, four horizontal, five vertical and seven radial subway network, work began on Phase II expansion projects. These new extensions and lines were expected to be operational in 2019–2021. The following lines were included in the approved Phase II construction plans:
* Line 3
* Line 12
* Line 17
* Line 19: Phase 1
* Line 7: Phase 2 (eastern extension)
* Line 8: Phase 4
* Capital Airport Express: Phase 2 (western extension)
* Fangshan line: Phase 2 (northern extension)
* Changping line: Phase 2 (southern extension)
* Batong line: Phase 2 (southern extension)
* Line 22
* CBD line
On December 9, 2016, construction started on of new line with the southern extension of Batong Line, the southern extension of Changping line, the Pinggu line, phase one of the New Airport line, and Line 3 Phase I breaking ground. The northern section of Line 16 opened on December 31, 2016. Ridership reached a new high of 3.66 billion. On December 30, 2017, a one-station extension of Fangshan Line (Suzhuang – Yancun East), Yanfang line (Yancun Dong - Yanshan), Xijiao line
The Xijiao Line of the Beijing Subway, also called No. 29 Line () is a light rail line in Haidian District of Beijing. It runs west and north from Bagou station, Bagou on Line 10 (Beijing Subway), Line 10 to the Fragrant Hills station (Beijing ...
(Bagou - Fragrant Hills) and S1 line (Shichang – Jin'anqiao) were opened. On December 30, 2018, the western extension of Line 6 (Jin'anqiao – Haidian Wuluju), the South section of Line 8 (Zhushikou – Yinghai), a one-station extension on Line 8 North section (Nanluoguxiang – National Art Museum), a one-station extension on Yizhuang line (Ciqu – Yizhuang Railway Station) were opened. On September 26, 2019, the Daxing Airport Express (Phase 1) (Caoqiao - Daxing Airport) was opened. On December 28, 2019, the eastern extension of Line 7 (Jiaohuachang-Huazhuang) and the southern extension of Batong line (Tuqiao-Huazhuang) were opened. A revision to the Phase II plans in 2019 added Line 11 (branch line for the 2022 Winter Olympics
The 2022 Winter Olympics, officially called the XXIV Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Beijing 2022 (2022), were an international winter multi-sport event held from 4 to 20 February 2022 in Beijing, China, and surrounding areas wit ...
) and a project to split Line 13 to the construction schedule.
On January 24, 2020, the day after a lockdown was declared in the city of Wuhan to contain the outbreak of COVID-19 in China, the Beijing Subway began testing body temperature of passengers at the 55 subway stations including the three main railway stations and capital Airport. Temperature checks expanded to all subway stations by January 27.
On April 4, 2020, at 10:00am, Beijing Subway trains joined in China's national mourning of lives lost in the COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
, by stopping for three minutes and sounding their horns three times, as conductors and passengers stood in silence. To control the spread of COVID-19
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic.
The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...
, certain Line 6 trains were outfitted with smart surveillance cameras that can detect passengers not wearing masks.
In May 2020, the Beijing Subway began to pilot a new style of wayfinding on Line 13 and Airport Express. However, since then the new designs were not rolled out to other lines or even new lines that opened afterward.
On December 31, 2020, the middle section of Line 16 (Xi Yuan-Ganjia Kou), the northern section of the Fangshan line (Guogongzhuang-Dongguantou Nan(S)), and the Yizhuang T1 line tram were opened.
On August 26, 2021, Line 7 and Batong line extended to station. On August 29, 2021, through operation of Line 1 and Batong line started. On December 31, 2021, the initial sections of Line 11 (Jin'anqiao - Shougang Park), Line 17 (Shilihe - Jiahuihu), Line 19 (Mudanyuan - Xingong); extensions of Capital Airport Express (Dongzhimen - Beixinqiao), Changping line (Xierqi - Qinghe Railway Station), Line S1 (Jin'anqiao - Pingguoyuan), Line 16 (Ganjiakou - Yuyuantan Park East Gate); and the central sections of Line 8 (Zhushikou - National Art Museum) and Line 14 (Beijing South Railway Station - Xiju) were opened. The opening of the central sections of Lines 8 and 14 along with the final section of Line S1 completed the three ring, four horizontal, five vertical and seven radial subway network plan (retroactively named Phase I expansion).
On July 30, 2022, stations Beitaipingzhuang, Ping'anli, Taipingqiao, Jingfengmen of Line 19 were opened. On December 31, 2022, the extension of Line 16 (Yuyuantan Park East Gate - Yushuzhuang) was opened.
On January 18, 2023, in the morning and evening peak hours of the workday, the cross-line operation of Fangshan Line and Line 9 began. On February 4, 2023, the extension of Changping Line (Qinghe Railway Station - Xitucheng) was opened.
On December 15, 2024, lines 3 and 12 were opened together with the remainder of the Changping line's southern extension. By the end of 2024, all of Beijing's 7 major railway stations and 2 international airports have been connected to the metro network.
Ridership
Facilities
Accessibility
Each station is equipped with ramps, lifts, or elevators to facilitate wheelchair
A wheelchair is a mobilized form of chair using two or more wheels, a footrest, and an armrest usually cushioned. It is used when walking is difficult or impossible to do due to illnesses, injury, disabilities, or age-related health conditio ...
access. Newer model train cars now provide space to accommodate wheelchairs. Automated audio announcements for incoming trains are available in all lines. On all lines, station names are announced in Mandarin Chinese and English. Under subway regulations, riders with mobility limitations may obtain assistance from subway staff to enter and exit stations and trains, and visually impaired
Visual or vision impairment (VI or VIP) is the partial or total inability of visual perception. In the absence of treatment such as corrective eyewear, assistive devices, and medical treatment, visual impairment may cause the individual difficul ...
riders may bring assistance devices and guide dogs into the subway.
Cellular network coverage
Mobile phones
A mobile phone or cell phone is a portable telephone that allows users to make and receive calls over a radio frequency link while moving within a designated telephone service area, unlike fixed-location phones ( landline phones). This radio ...
can currently be used throughout the network. In 2014, Beijing Subway started upgrading cellular networks in the Beijing subway to 4G. In 2016, the entire subway network has 4G coverage. Since 2019, 5G coverage is being rolled out across the network.
Commercial facilities
In the 1990s a number of fast food and convenience stores operated in the Beijing Subway. In 2002, fourteen Wumart convenience stores opened in various Line 2 stations.
After witnessing the Daegu subway fire in February 2003, the Beijing Subway gradually removed the 80 newsstands and fast food restaurants across 39 stations in Line 1 and Line 2. The popular underground mall at Xidan station was closed. This is in contrast other systems in China which added more station commerce as they started to rapidly expand their networks. Since the implementation of this policy new lines did not have any station commerce upon opening.
Passengers consistently complained that the lack of station commerce in the Beijing Subway is inconvenient. In the early 2010s, Beijing Subway started reversing some of these policies. Vending machines selling drinks and snacks has gradually introduced inside stations since 2013. Later machines with of common items such as flowers, earphones, masks, etc. were also introduced. In 2013, China Resources Vanguard and FamilyMart expressed interest in opening convenience stores in the Beijing Subway but this never materialized.
The survey report on passenger satisfaction in subway services since 2018 shows that more than 70% of passengers want convenience stores in subway stations, especially for various hot and cold drinks, ready-to-eat food, and bento meals. In December 2020, "the deployment of 130 convenient service facilities at subway stations" was listed as a key project for the Beijing municipal government. On July 25, 2021, Beijing Subway selected three stations, Hepingli Beijie station of Line 5, Qingnian Lu station of Line 6, and Caishikou station of Line 7, to carry out a pilot program of opening convenience stores. Since December 2021, a rapid rollout of station commerce began on a large scale across the network with a variety of commercial establishments such as bookstores, pharmacies, flower shops and specialty vendors being constructed inside stations.
Information hotline and app
The Beijing Subway telephone hotline was initiated on the eve of the 2008 Summer Olympic Games to provide traveler information, receive complaints and suggestions, and file lost and found reports. The hotline combined the nine public service telephones of various subway departments. On December 29, 2013, the hotline number was switched from (010)-6834-5678 to (010)-96165 for abbreviated dialing. In December 2014, the hotline began offering fare information, as the subway switched to distance-based fare. The hotline has staffed service from 5 am to midnight and has automated service during unstaffed hours.
The Beijing Subway has an official mobile app
A mobile application or app is a computer program or software application designed to run on a mobile device such as a smartphone, phone, tablet computer, tablet, or smartwatch, watch. Mobile applications often stand in contrast to desktop appli ...
lication and a number of third-party apps.
English station names
According to the related rules released in 2006, all the place names, common names and proper names of subway stations and bus stops should use uppercase Hanyu Pinyin. For example, Nanlishi Lu Station should be written as NANLISHILU Station. However, names of venues can use English translation, such as Military Museum.
According to the translation standard released in December 2017, station names of rail transit and public transport have to follow the laws.
Since December 2018, Beijing Subway has changed the format of names of the new subway stations every year. On the subway map of December 2018, the station names used Roman script, and it gave consideration to English writing habit and pronunciation. The format changed to verbatim in December 2019, where the positions (East, South, West and North) were written in Hanyu Pinyin and an English abbreviation was added to them.
Since December 31, 2021, Beijing Subway has started using new station name format. The Pinyin "Zhan" is used instead of English word "Station" on the light box at the subway entrance. This caused a strong disagreement. Citizens criticized it, making comments like "Chinese do not need to read and foreigners cannot read it". Some of the landmark named stations uses Chinese name, Hanyu Pinyin and English translation. Station names ending with positions no longer add English abbreviation. Some of the stations that used English translation names (such as Shahe Univ. Park, Life Science Park and Liangxiang Univ. Town) changed to Hanyu Pinyin only (The new station names are Shahe Gaojiaoyuan, Shengming Kexueyuan and Liangxiang Daxuecheng).
System upgrades
Capacity
With new lines drawing more riders to the network, the subway has experienced severe overcrowding, especially during the rush hour
A rush hour (American English, British English) or peak hour (Australian English, Indian English) is a part of the day during which traffic congestion on roads and crowding on public transport is at its highest. Normally, this happens twice e ...
. Since 2015, significant sections of Lines 1, 4 – Daxing, 5, 10, 13, Batong and Changping are officially over capacity during rush hour. By 2019, Lines 1, 2, 4, 5, 6 and 10 all have daily weekday ridership's of over 1 million passengers a day each. In short term response, the subway upgraded electrical, signal and yard equipment to increase the frequency of trains to add additional capacity. Peak headways have been reduced to 1 min. 43 sec. on Line 4; 1 min. 45 sec. on Lines 1/Batong, 5, 9, and 10; 2 min. on Lines 2, 6, 13 and Changping; 2 min. and 35 sec. on Line 15; 3 min. 30 sec. on Line 8; and 15 min. on the Airport Express. The Beijing Subway is investigating the feasibility of reducing headways of Line 10 down to 1 min 40 seconds.
Lines 13 and Batong have converted 4-car to 6-car trains. Lines 6 and 7 have longer platforms that can accommodate 8-car type B trains, while lines 14, 16, 17 and 19 use higher capacity wide-body type A trains (all mentioned except Line 14 use eight-car trains). New lines that cross the city center such as Line 3 and Line 12, now under construction, will also adopt high capacity 8-car type A trains with a 70 percent increase in capacity over older lines using 6 car type B. When completed these lines are expected to greatly relieve overcrowding in the existing network.
Despite these efforts, during the morning rush hour, conductors at line terminals and other busy stations must routinely restrict the number of passengers who can board each train to prevent the train from becoming too crowded for passengers waiting at other stations down the line. Some of these stations have built queuing lines outside the stations to manage the flow of waiting passengers. As of August 31, 2011, 25 stations mainly on Lines 1, 5, 13, and Batong have imposed such restrictions. By January 7, 2013, 41 stations on Lines 1, 2, 5, 13, Batong, and Changping had instituted passenger flow restrictions during the morning rush hour. The number of stations with passenger flow restrictions reached 110 in January 2019, affecting all lines except Lines 15, 16, Fangshan, Yanfang and S1. Lines 4, 5, 10 and 13 strategically run several empty train runs during rush hour bound for specific stations help clear busy station queues. Counter peak flow express trains started operating on Line 15, Changping and Batong to minimize line runtimes and allow the existing fleet size to serve more passengers during peak periods. Additionally, investigations are being carried out on Line 15 and Yizhuang for upgrading to 120 km/h operations.
Transfers
Interchange stations that permit transfers across two or more subway lines receive heavy traffic passenger flow. The older interchange stations are known for lengthy transfer corridors and slow transfers during peak hours. The average transfer distance at older interchange stations is The transfer between Lines 2 and 13 at Xizhimen once required 15 minutes to complete during rush hours. In 2011, this station was rebuilt to reduce the transfer distance to about long. There are plans to rebuild other interchange stations such as Dongzhimen.
In newer interchange stations, which are designed to permit more efficient transfers, the average transfer distance is . Many of the newer interchange stations including Guogongzhuang (Lines 9 and Fangshan), Nanluoguxiang (Lines 8 and 6), Zhuxinzhuang (Changping and Line 8), Beijing West railway station (Lines 9 and 7), National Library
A national library is a library established by a government as a country's preeminent repository of information. Unlike public library, public libraries, these rarely allow citizens to borrow books. Often, they include numerous rare, valuable, ...
(Lines 9 and 4), Yancun East (Fangshan Line and Yanfang Line) feature cross platform transfers. Nevertheless, longer transfer corridors must still be used when the alignment of the lines do not permit cross-platform transfer.
The transfer corridors between Lines 1 and 9 at the Military Museum, which opened on December 23, 2013, are in one direction and just under in the other.
Safety
Security check
To ensure public safety during the 2008 Summer Olympic and Paralympic
The Paralympic Games or Paralympics is a periodic series of international multisport events involving athletes with a range of disabilities. There are Winter and Summer Paralympic Games, which since the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Kore ...
Games, the subway initiated a three-month heightened security program from June 29 to September 20, 2008. Riders were subject to searches of their persons and belongings at all stations by security inspectors using metal detectors, X-ray machines and sniffer dogs. Items banned from public transportation such as "guns, ammunition, knives, explosives, flammable and radioactive materials, and toxic chemicals" were subject to confiscation. The security program was reinstituted during the 2009 New Year Holiday and has since been made permanent through regulations enacted in February 2009.
Accidents and incidents
The subway was plagued by numerous accidents in its early years, including a fire in 1969 that killed six people and injured over 200. But its operations have improved dramatically and there have been few reported accidents in recent years. Most of the reported fatalities on the subway are the result of suicides
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death.
Risk factors for suicide include mental disorders, physical disorders, and substance abuse. Some suicides are impulsive acts driven by stress (such as from financial or ac ...
. Authorities have responded by installing doors on platforms of newer lines.
* On October 8, 2003, the collapse of steel beams at the construction site of Line 5's Chongwenmen station killed three workers and injured one.
* On March 29, 2007, the construction site at the Suzhoujie station on Line 10 collapsed, burying six workers.
* On June 6, 2008, prior to the opening of Line 10, a worker was crushed to death inside an escalator in Zhichunlu station when an intern turned on the moving staircase.
* On July 14, 2010, two workers were killed and eight were injured at the construction site of Line 15 Line 15 may refer to:
* Line 15 (Beijing Subway)
* Line 15 (Paris Metro)
* Line 15 (Shanghai Metro)
* Line 15 (São Paulo Metro)
* Helsinki light rail line 15
*
{{disamb ...
's Shunyi station when the steel support structure collapsed on them.
* On September 17, 2010, Line 9 tunnels under construction beneath Yuyuantan Lake were flooded, killing one worker.[ A city official who oversaw waterworks contracts at the site was convicted of ]corruption
Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense that is undertaken by a person or an organization that is entrusted in a position of authority to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's gain. Corruption may involve activities ...
and given a death sentence with reprieve
Death sentence with reprieve (, abbr: ) is a criminal punishment found in chapter 5 (death penalty), sections 48, 50 and 51 of the criminal law of the People's Republic of China. It is a two-year suspended sentence where the execution is only ca ...
.
* On June 1, 2011, one worker was killed when a section of Line 6 under construction in Xicheng District near Ping'anli collapsed.
* On July 5, 2011, an escalator collapsed at Beijing Zoo Station, killing one 13-year-old boy and injuring 28.
* On July 19, 2012, a man was fatally shot at Hujialou station by a sniper from the Beijing Special Weapons and Tactics Unit
The Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau Counter-Terrorism and Special Police Unit ( zh, c=北京市公安局反恐怖和特警总队) referred to as Beijing SWAT ( zh, c=北京特警), is a police tactical unit within the Beijing Municipal P ...
after taking a subway worker hostage.
* On May 4, 2013, a train derailed when it overran a section of track on Line 4. The section was not open to the public and was undergoing testing. There were no injuries.
* On November 6, 2014, a woman was killed when she tried to board the train at Huixinxijie Nankou station on Beijing Subway's Line 5. She became trapped between the train door and the platform edge door and was crushed to death by the departing train. The accident happened on the second day of APEC China 2014 meetings in the city during which the municipal government has banned cars from the roads on alternate days to ease congestion and reduce pollution during the summit – measures which the capital's transport authorities have estimated would lead to an extra one million passengers on the subway every day.
* On March 26, 2015, a Yizhuang line train was testing when it derailed around . No passengers were on board and the driver faced leg injuries.
* On January 1, 2018, a Xijiao line train derailed around Fragrant Hills station. There were no injuries. Fragrant Hills station was temporarily closed until March 1, 2018.
* On December 14, 2023, two trains on the Changping line collided between Xi'erqi station and Life Science Park station, causing one of the carriages to break apart and injuring over 500 passengers on board.
Subway culture
Logo
The subway's logo, a capital letter "G" encircling a capital letter "D" with the letter "B" silhouette
A silhouette (, ) is the image of a person, animal, object or scene represented as a solid shape of a single colour, usually black, with its edges matching the outline of the subject. The interior of a silhouette is featureless, and the silhouett ...
d inside the letter D, was designed by Zhang Lide, a subway employee, and officially designated in April 1984. The letters B, G, and D form the pinyin
Hanyu Pinyin, or simply pinyin, officially the Chinese Phonetic Alphabet, is the most common romanization system for Standard Chinese. ''Hanyu'' () literally means 'Han Chinese, Han language'—that is, the Chinese language—while ''pinyin' ...
abbreviation for
"" ().
Subway Culture Park
The Beijing Subway Culture Park, located near in Daxing District, opened in 2010 to commemorate the 40-year history of the Beijing Subway. The park was built using dirt and debris removed from the construction of the Daxing line and contains old rolling stock
The term rolling stock in the rail transport industry refers to railway vehicles, including both powered and unpowered vehicles: for example, locomotives, Railroad car#Freight cars, freight and Passenger railroad car, passenger cars (or coaches) ...
, sculpture, and informational displays. Admission to the park is free.
Beijing Suburban Railway
The Beijing Suburban Railway, a suburban commuter train service, is managed separately from the Beijing Subway. The two systems, although complementary, are not related to each other operationally. Beijing Suburban Railway is operated by the China Railway Beijing Group.
There are 4 suburban railway lines currently in operation: Line S2, Sub-Central line, Huairou–Miyun line and Tongmi line.
Network map
See also
* List of Beijing Subway stations
* Transport in Beijing
* List of metro systems
This list of metro systems includes electrified rapid transit train systems worldwide. In some parts of the world, metro systems are referred to as subways, undergrounds, tubes, mass rapid transit (MRT), metrô or U-Bahn. 204 cities in 65 cou ...
* Urban rail transit in China
Notes
References
External links
Official Beijing Subway website
Detailed information only for the lines operated by Beijing Subway.
(Chinese). For the 5 lines operated by MTR Beijing.
Official Beijing MTR Website
(English)
Official Beijing Metro Operation Administration (BJMOA) Website
For Line 19, Yanfang line, Daxing Airport Express operated by Beijing Metro Operation Administration (BJMOA).
Beijing Subway Information on UrbanRail.net