Beijing announces plans for 1,000km rail network linking capital with Tianjin and Hebei
Capital unveils scheme for massive network to connect the city with Tianjin and Hebei to ease congestion and overcrowding in Beijing
A 1,000km suburban railway network will be built around Beijing to link the capital with neighbouring Tianjin and Hebei province, the city's transport authority said late Monday.
The plan is part of an infrastructure overhaul to encourage the integration of the three regions and help to relieve the overpopulated and congested capital of non-core functions.
Beijing's population had reached 21.5 million at the end of last year, including 8.18 million migrants, official figures show.
The proposed rail network for the Beijing-Hebei-Tianjin area comprises four layers: arterial lines, intercity and suburban links and urban subways.
Suburban links will serve commuters travelling up to 70km.
The first route in the network will be the 72km Pinggu Line, linking central Beijing to the suburb of Pinggu, through Hebei's Yanjiao township.
The arterial rail lines will connect areas that are more than 150km apart, while the intercity lines will link major cities that are between 70km and 150km apart.
Up to 27km of new subway lines will be built in Beijing this year to extend the network to 554km.
The subway's average speed will be between 60km/h and 70km/h, while suburban trains will reach a top speed of 160km/h because of the longer distances between stations.
"This means the travelling speed [of suburban rail services] will dramatically increase," said Zhou Zhengyu, director of the Beijing Municipal Commission of Transport. "The trains will be expected to finish the whole journey in 40 to 50 minutes."
Zhou said the 1,000km subway network and the 1,000km suburban rail links would together form the main part of Beijing's future rail network.
Xinhua reported that the suburban rail network was expected to make it easier for residents to commute between the capital and neighbouring cities - the first step by the authorities to channel more people out of Beijing to ease traffic and pollution problems.
Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Intercity Railway Investment, which is in charge of building the intercity rail projects, was set up last year by the local governments of Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei and China Railway Corp.
Beijing's municipal government said on the weekend that it would be moving some of its administrative offices to suburban Tongzhou district in the city's east and would limit the capital's population to 23 million.
The transport overhaul would also include linking existing highways and allowing commuters to use a single travel pass on all public transport across Beijing, Tianjin and four cities in Hebei province, Xinhua said.
