Beijing plans world’s biggest subway

BEIJING – Beijing plans to build the world’s biggest subway and dramatically expand its bus network as part of efforts to combat the city’s worsening traffic gridlock, state press said yesterday.

The Chinese capital would expand its subway system to 273 km by 2010 and to 561 km by 2020, surpassing London as the city with the world’s most extensive underground, reports said. The city’s current metro rail system is 115 km, with 54 km of subway.The city’s newly approved five-year public transport plan would shift the focus from building roads for car use to constructing a high-speed public transport system to ease the growing gridlock, the China News Service said.”When Beijing citizens are in the city centre, we want them to be able to get to places faster by using public transport than by using a car,” the report quoted Liu Xiaoming, vice head of the city’s traffic department, as saying.Besides completing five new rail lines by 2010, including an already announced light rail connecting the city centre to the airport, Beijing would also build 300 km of specialised bus lanes, Liu said.The China News Service report did not detail the costs for such a plan.But by 2010, it was hoped 40 per cent or more of the city’s commuting would be done on public transport, with up to six million passenger rail trips and over 13 million bus journeys daily, it said.Beijing currently only boasts two subway lines and two light rail tracks, although three more underground lines were under construction and slated to be completed by 2008 when the city hosted the Olympic Games, the China Daily said.Beijing’s efforts to build public transport have lagged behind the city’s construction of new highways, ring roads and widened streets to meet the demands of the 2,78 million vehicles currently plying city streets.”Motorized vehicle use is growing rapidly and by 2010 it is estimated there will be 3,5 million vehicles in the city,” Gu Shengli, another city traffic official, told the China New Service.”This will bring the city huge traffic pressures that cannot be alleviated through the mere expansion and building of new roads.”The official Xinhua news agency reported last month that traffic in Beijing had reached crisis levels, with more than 1 100 new cars hitting the city’s roads each day.”Urban road transport in the Chinese capital has reached a crisis point, with 90 per cent of roads operating at full capacity and little room for expansion,” the agency said.Xinhua said Beijing had 2,78 million registered motor vehicles, including 1,97 million private cars.”As a result, traffic jams are a daily occurrence in rush hour.In many downtown areas, cars and buses inch forward at a snail’s pace,” the report said.Average road speed in the capital was 20 km an hour, while at the busiest areas traffic moved along at seven km an hour, “barely faster than walking,” it said.According to Monday’s China Daily, a Beijing design institute has submitted a plan to build six underground roadways underneath the heart of the capital by 2020 to further ease traffic congestion.However, the paper said such a plan would be costly and difficult to build.Nampa-AFPThe city’s current metro rail system is 115 km, with 54 km of subway.The city’s newly approved five-year public transport plan would shift the focus from building roads for car use to constructing a high-speed public transport system to ease the growing gridlock, the China News Service said.”When Beijing citizens are in the city centre, we want them to be able to get to places faster by using public transport than by using a car,” the report quoted Liu Xiaoming, vice head of the city’s traffic department, as saying.Besides completing five new rail lines by 2010, including an already announced light rail connecting the city centre to the airport, Beijing would also build 300 km of specialised bus lanes, Liu said.The China News Service report did not detail the costs for such a plan.But by 2010, it was hoped 40 per cent or more of the city’s commuting would be done on public transport, with up to six million passenger rail trips and over 13 million bus journeys daily, it said.Beijing currently only boasts two subway lines and two light rail tracks, although three more underground lines were under construction and slated to be completed by 2008 when the city hosted the Olympic Games, the China Daily said.Beijing’s efforts to build public transport have lagged behind the city’s construction of new highways, ring roads and widened streets to meet the demands of the 2,78 million vehicles currently plying city streets.”Motorized vehicle use is growing rapidly and by 2010 it is estimated there will be 3,5 million vehicles in the city,” Gu Shengli, another city traffic official, told the China New Service.”This will bring the city huge traffic pressures that cannot be alleviated through the mere expansion and building of new roads.”The official Xinhua news agency reported last month that traffic in Beijing had reached crisis levels, with more than 1 100 new cars hitting the city’s roads each day.”Urban road transport in the Chinese capital has reached a crisis point, with 90 per cent of roads operating at full capacity and little room for expansion,” the agency said.Xinhua said Beijing had 2,78 million registered motor vehicles, including 1,97 million private cars.”As a result, traffic jams are a daily occurrence in rush hour.In many downtown areas, cars and buses inch forward at a snail’s pace,” the report said.Average road speed in the capital was 20 km an hour, while at the busiest areas traffic moved along at seven km an hour, “barely faster than walking,” it said.According to Monday’s China Daily, a Beijing design institute has submitted a plan to build six underground roadways underneath the heart of the capital by 2020 to further ease traffic congestion.However, the paper said such a plan would be costly and difficult to build.Nampa-AFP