Comments on: Beijing Subway Not Designed for Olympics

By: Alison Bacon

Alison Bacon — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 10:40:01 +0000

I’m just building a new mobile map of the subway in Beijing ready for the Olympics, if you have a smartphone or PDA and would like a copy to try out please drop me an email.

By: Andrew

Andrew — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 08:57:50 +0000

As much as I hope for Beijing to be covered in subway lines, I realize that a three-week event (as big as it is) is hardly a legitimate justification for a more convenient subway route. I think Dan is right on Line 10, though — I have one subway map that shows Line 10 merging into Line 8 from Andinglu Station.
We shall all have to suffer — together — as we change trains multiple times to get to the main Olympic site.
Of course, there is always the option of taking a bicycle to the Games….
I shall ponder all these big questions next August, as I walk the five-minute journey from my apartment to the (women’s) beach volleyball events.

By: Dan

Dan — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 17:39:25 +0000

RE: Subway convenience - Line 5 is a long walk from outside the 2nd Ring. You could also hop a GongTiBeiLu bus to the 3rd Ring and get the 10 there for an easy ride to the Olympics.

By: Josh

Josh — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 12:51:20 +0000

@ Larry:

I was a little worried I would mess up the Cantonese bit, but hopefully I got the gist. Do you speak Cantonese or you just know that tidbit?

By: Josh

Josh — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 12:50:06 +0000

@Jeremy:

The system is actually really easy to navigate. It’s just not as convenient as I would hope.

By: Josh

Josh — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 09:44:09 +0000

@Dan
Fair point about the subway not being built only for the Games, but since the stadiums mostly didn’t exist, you’d figure there would be some grand plan. Also, line 5 is a pretty long walk from outside the 2nd Ring Road. Besides, it doesn’t go to the Olympic venues, it goes a couple of miles east of them…

By: Dan

Dan — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 07:22:56 +0000

Are you sure that line 8 will only run as a stub? I get the impression from the press that they might run it as a branch of line 10 so that at GuoMao, for example, you could either get an Olympic Park train, or a regular line 10 train. Anyone have any clarification on this?

Also, another option never mentioned by Josh to get from DongSiShiTiao to line 8 would be simply to walk to line 5 and take that directly. For areas near DongSiShiTiao that are inside of the 2nd Ring this is likely the best option.

Finally, just for the record line 10 will be a fantastic line for Beijing (GuoMao - Residential Chaoyang and HaiDian - ZhongGuanCun), as will line 8 once they actually build the rest of it (long term plan is for it to run from DiAnMen - with transfer to future line 6 - to HuiLongGuan). When investing billions in a rapid transit network, the long term needs of a city should always trump those of a 3 week event. While the plans for the Beijing subway’s expansion are not perfect, they will certainly be a huge improvement on what we have today.

By: scott

scott — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 00:32:21 +0000

Hey, don’t forget the new airport line. Then you can go to Dongzhimen, walk however far to the airport line, take it to San Yuan Qiao, connect to 10, then line 8.

btw, if you haven’t been to Dongzhimen lately, you at least don’t have to go outside to change to 13 anymore. Still a nice haul, but I have been caught a couple of times without my p.o.s. umbrella.

By: Larry

Larry — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 19:11:20 +0000

I expect a temporary scheme of routes to be used just for the couple of weeks of Olympic Games. I also suspect all other routes not going to games venue to be, at least, temporarily inconvenienced. There may also be special motor bus routes just for the games too.

By: Larry

Larry — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 19:07:45 +0000

8 is also pronounced as “ba” in Cantonese. It is the long “a” that counts.