Beijing’s sprawled-out transportation hubs just became more connected with Thursday’s opening of a new express line that will whisk passengers from Beijing Railway Station to Beijing West Railway Station in just 15 minutes.
Commuters will be able to get directly across town without any stops in between for the low cost of RMB 8 for a hard seat ticket.
As convenient as the new line is, it is entirely inappropriate for sight-seeing since it is Beijing’s one and only underground train line, running for 10 minutes in total blackness before emerging aboveground just before arriving at Beijing West Railway Station.
And, to be clear, service is currently only available for westbound trips from Beijing Railway Station to Beijing West Railway Station, and not the other way around.
Although commuters may want to avoid train stations due to their line-ups and security checks, the express train from Beijing Railway Station to Beijing West Railway Station turns out to be the fastest method of transportation for traveling between those two destinations.
Public buses between the two train stations may cost just RMB 2, but will require up to 50 minutes to complete their combined average of 14 stops; meanwhile, the existing express bus that links the two transportation hubs is actually more expensive at a cost of RMB 10.
The new express line also performs well when compared to the Beijing Metro, which will require commuters to ride three subways (Lines 2, 4, and 7) and make their connecting transfers in order to complete the 32-minute-long trip.
The K7751 will be making the westbound journey up until year’s end when a new intracity express train is set to begin operations, completing trips between Beijing West Railway Station and the eastern suburb of Tongzhou in just 42 minutes.
The 38.8-kilometer-long express line will have stops at the still-incomplete Yamenkou Station, Beijing West Railway Station (Line 7 and 9), Beijing Railway Station (Line 2), Beijing East Railway Station (future CBD Line), and Tongzhou Railway Station.
In other railway developments, train service from Beijing Station to some destinations in Shandong and Dongbei will cease operations during parts of October and November. And for more positive news, train passengers are now able to pay for their train tickets using WeChat.
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Twitter: @Sinopath
E-mail: charlesliu1@qq.com
