Beijing is mapping out a suburban railway network radiating from
the capital's downtown area to boomtowns in suburban districts, the
city's urban planner has said.
Five trunk lines and a lateral line have been under a
feasibility study of the city's suburban railway construction plan,
according to a report on the Beijing Municipal Commission of Urban
Planning website.
"The total length of the railway track will add up to 360 km.
They are to be open for traffic by 2020," the report noted.
In 2005, Beijing announced it would build 11 new suburban towns
to divert the capital's growing population from its crowded
core.
The 11 suburbs, featuring cheaper housing prices, convenient
public services and a pleasant environment, are expected to absorb
five to six million people by 2020. At the time, the city's
population is predicted to hit 18 million.
The planned suburban railway lines are aimed to facilitate
passenger flow between the city's core to the new suburban towns of
Yanqing, Changping, Mentougou, Huairou, Miyun, Pinggu, Shunyi,
Fangshan, Daxing, Yizhuang and Tongzhou.
The railways would be built on many sections of deserted tracks
that were once used by factories to transport raw materials such as
coal. However, many of those factories have been relocated further
away from the city in effort to treat pollution, the commission
said.
The railway lines allow for a speed of over 50 km per hour,
double that of urban rail in the downtown area.
(Xinhua News Agency, December 10, 2007)