Beijing reconnects with public transport to ease congestion

Beijing's hard-pressed commuters should count themselves blessed this weekend, for they are about to receive that rarest of boons: more transport for less money.

Even as the Chinese capital opens its new 27.6km No 5 mass transit line tomorrow, the price of tickets for the newly expanded underground network is being slashed to a flat fare of Rmb2, less than half the previous maximum tariff.

The opening of the Rmb12bn ($1.6bn, €1.1bn) line and the ticket price-cut highlight Beijing's belated re-embrace of public transport as the only way to ensure the fast-expanding city can function effectively.

"We are going to strongly push development of the subway in order to deal with Beijing's traffic," says Liu Qi, the capital's powerful Communist party secretary. "The large-scale subway development . . . may well result in the world's biggest network." Beijing's building plan is part of a nationwide explosion of interest in mass transit networks as urban populations are swelled by a vast influx of residents from their rural hinterlands.

Over the next decade or so, 15 Chinese cities are expected to spend Rmb620bn to build 1,700km of underground lines and urban light railways, state media say. More than 20 other cities are also seeking permission to build lines.

Beijing is leading the way, with plans to have 561km of subway line in operation by 2015 - well above the London Underground's 408km.

While Beijing favours Chinese suppliers, the subway boom is a big opportunity for global transit systems producers such as Germany's Siemens, France's Alstom and Bombardier, the Canadian company responsible for a light rail link to the capital's airport that will open next year.

Beijing's subway line plans are something of a return to the future for the capital, which was China's underground pioneer when it opened its first line in 1969.

"The Beijing [underground] was hardly late in taking its first steps, but development has come in phases because of shortages of finance and other limiting factors," says Jia Peng, spokesman for Beijing Mass Transit Railway Operation Corp.

Perhaps the most important limiting factor has been the capital's love affair with road transport and the car. Planners have focused largely on widening cross-town avenues and on encircling the city with multi-lane ring roads.

The rapid road construction continues, but capacity is still failing to keep up with a flood of new vehicles, with many of the capital's more than 3m cars already spending much of their time stuck in traffic.

Municipal leaders expect to have to ban half the capital's cars on alternate days to ensure smooth traffic when it hosts the Olympic Games in August.

Merely building the new underground lines will be no panacea for Beijing's transport problems. The clearing of much of the city centre of its original residents means commutes are growing ever longer. And the capital still lacks the convenient suburban rail links that round out the transit systems of London or Tokyo.

Despite the cheaper fares, many commuters may still be loath to take to the underground, which is often cramped and hot and which suffers from poorly laid out stations and connections.

Such reluctance may be eased by a Rmb4bn plan to upgrade the oldest two lines with new carriages and more frequent trains ahead of the Olympic Games.

With sophisticated air-conditioning, elevators and platform safety doors, the new north-south No 5 line certainly offers a new level of mass transit comfort for the city.

Operators are even promising seamless mobile phone connections for travellers between its 23 stations as well as live TV broadcasts of Olympic events next year. For those commuters eager not to miss a minute of the games, that will no doubt seem a blessing indeed.