Furthermore, from May 2015, in
Beijing will operate 60 new fully automatic Subway trains
Beijing Subway recently made headlines for three different news: 1) 4 new lines (which will bring the total length of
Beijing subway to 527 km) have started the testing, trial phase. 2) After years of unchanged rates, public transport (including the
Beijing Subway) has increased fares from 28 December. 3) From May 2015 in the
Beijing Subway will take effect 60 new high-tech trains, able to work unmanned.
Four new lines for Beijing subway
BEIJING, Dec. 28 (Xinhua) --
Beijing began trial operations of four new subway lines on Sunday in the latest effort to ease the city's traffic jams. The new lines have increased the total subway length of
Beijing to 527 kilometers, increased by 13.3 percent year on year. The newly-opened lines include the second phase of No. 6 Line, the No. 7 Line, the eastern section of No. 14 Line, and the western section of the current No. 15 Line.
The new lines are more passenger friendly, said Xu Chengyong, who is in charge of
Beijing subway construction with the
Beijing Urban Construction Design & Development Group. Xu said the new lines will provide more convenient transfer channels and spacious carriage for passengers. No. 14 Line is the first metro line in the capital to use high capacity wide-body A size trains, while No. 6 Line uses high capacity rolling stock to date featuring eight-car size train sets.
The city's subway system carries approximately 10 million passengers daily on workdays. By 2015, the number of subway lines in
Beijing will reach 19. By 2020, the total subway length is expected to have increased to 1,000 km.
Unmanned trains for Beijing subway in May 2015
CHANGCHUN, Dec. 1 (Xinhua) -- Beijing's first fully automatic subway trains are expected to be put into operation next year,
ChangChun Railway Vehicles Co., Ltd. a subsidiary of China CNR Corporation, announced on Monday. Sixty trains produced by the corporation will be the first fully automatic trains to allow for unmanned operation in the Chinese mainland. They will be delivered in May 2015.
The trains, with a top speed of 80 kilometers an hour, will be able to carry a maximum of 1,262 passengers. The train's design is inspired by the shape of a dolphin to lower air resistance and will be painted to show off Beijing's features as an ancient city. Unmanned subway trains were first introduced in Copenhagen, Denmark and are used in cities including Paris, Barcelona and Nuremberg.
The fares of public transport in Beijing are increased
Beijing will start to raise its fares on public transport on Dec. 28, doubling the current prices on average, but including some discount schemes. According to the pricing adjustment plan, the minimum price for a subway ride will be 3 yuan, which covers a ride of 6 km, compared with the current flat-fare of 2 yuan with unlimited transfers. For bus passengers, a ride of 10 km will be 2 yuan and 1 yuan for every further 5 km while the bus transport here is currently 1 yuan or most lines with a smart cards price of only 0.4 yuan. (Xinhua/Ma Yan)