BEIJING Metro Corp announced on December 12 that trial passenger services on the city’s 19 km Line 4 would start on December 28, bringing the length of operational metro in the Chinese capital to 95 km.
Built mainly above ground, the elevated light metro Line 4 runs east from an interchange with Line 1 at Sihuidong to the suburb of Tongzhou. Construction started in 2000, and has cost around 3·4bn yuan. Work has started on construction of Line 5, and the city government expects to start work on two more lines shortly. The city’s urban rail network is expected to reach 300 km by the time that Beijing hosts the 2008 Olympic Games.
