Search China Travel News:

Beijing's metro system will stretch to 561 kilometres by 2020, replacing London's Underground as the longest subway system in the world, according to a recently completed construction plan for the capital city's public transportation offerings.

According to the plan, the 561 kilometres will be laid out along 19 lines knit together beneath the capital.

Unlike metro lines 1 and 2 (the loop lines), which encircle the Tian'anmen Square area, the traditional city centre, the new lines are expected to reach all the major corners of the capital.

Fifteen of the new lines will support urban areas, while the remaining four will stretch out to the suburbs, according to the plan drafted by the city's communications commission.

Zhao Hui, a researcher who helped draft the plan, said it represented a long-term vision and was therefore subject to change. The city's Development and Reform Commission still has to approve the plan, he noted.

The three lines Line 4, 5 and 10 that are currently under construction are expected to be operational for the 2008 Olympic Games.

Line 4 will connect Fengtai in the extreme south with Haidian in the northwest, spanning 28.16 kilometres. This line will represent the first direct link between Beijing's two "poles."

Line 5 will serve a similar function, creating a short-cut route between the "developed" north and "developing" south, from Changping to Fengtai districts.

The city is also building Line 10, which will proscribe an arc whose tips will be Haidian and Chaoyang districts. This line will link up the northwestern and eastern-southeastern sections of the city.

A 5.91-kilometre section of Line 10 is aimed at easing travel relating to the 2008 Olympic Games.