Full steam ahead at China’s Great Wall for the world’s deepest and largest high-speed rail station
Development is designed to protect views of Unesco World Heritage site
Chinese developers have started building the world’s deepest and largest underground high-speed railway station at a popular tourist section of the Great Wall ahead of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, according to state media.
Situated 102 metres below ground, the station will be located at Badaling, which is the most frequently visited section of the Great Wall. It would be three storeys deep and the interior would cover 36,000 square metres, equivalent to the size of five football pitches, Xinhua reported on Monday.
Developers have tried to anticipate safety concerns by installing a network of emergency exit corridors that allow passengers to be rescued at a depth of 50 metres.
They claim that the underground station can withstand earthquakes of up to magnitude 8.
