CHINA: The southern section of Beijing metro Line 16 from Yuyuantan Park East Gate to Yushuzhuang was opened for revenue service on December 31.
The 14·2 km extension serving the southwest of the city adds a further nine stations, taking the line to 46·2 km with 25 stations. It brings the total length of the capital’s metro network to 777 route-km serving 360 stations.
The 19·6 km northern section of the western tangent line between Bei’anhe and Xiyuan and was opened in December 2016. The 10·9 km central section from Xiyuan to Ganjiakou was completed in December 2020, while a short 1 km extension from Ganjiakou to Yuyuantan Park East Gate followed in December 2021.
Line 16 is operated by the Beijing MTR Corp Ltd joint venture between Hong Kong’s MTR Corp, Beijing Capital Group and Beijing Infrastructure Investment Corp. The company also operates metro lines 4 and 14, the southern section of Line 17 and the Daxing Line serving the capital’s new international airport.
According to MTR, the north-south Line 16 is ‘a backbone line’, linking high-technology clusters in northern Beijing with the Lize financial district, Beijing Fengtai station and the Zhongguancun Fengtai Science Park.
‘With Phase III of Line 16 commencing service, the total operational length of our network in the mainland of China now exceeds 300 km’, noted Adi Lau, Managing Director of MTR’s Mainland China Business. ‘Beijing was the city where the corporation launched railway services in the mainland of China for the first time.’
‘Beijing MTR is committed to enhancing passengers’ travelling experience’, added Beijing MTR General Manager Wilson Shao. ‘We will continue to empower our services by introducing more intelligent and human-centred initiatives. We also care for passengers with special needs and strive to build more caring, inclusive and sustainable communities.’
