Operator(s) China Railways Locale Beijing Transit type Commuter rail | System length 82 km (51 mi) Number of stations 6 Began operation August 6, 2008 | |
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BCR (Beijing City Rail) also known as Beijing Suburban Railway is a commuter rail service that connects urban Beijing with outlying districts and counties beyond the reach of the city's Beijing Subway network. The "S"-numbered suburban rail lines are managed by the Beijing Railway Bureau, an agency of the Ministry of Railways that is not affiliated with the Beijing Mass Transit Railway Operation Corp., Ltd, the municipal company that operates the subway. Hence, the S-Lines run on separate tracks and stations and have a different fare schedule from the subway. There is only one suburban railway line currently in operation, the S2. A total of six S-lines are planned to be built by 2020.
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S-Line in operation
The S2 Line, which runs from Beijing North Railway Station to Huailai County in Zhangjiakou, Hebei was the first S-line to enter into operation. It opened on 6 August 2008.
S-Lines under planning
The S1 Line, also known as the Mentougou Line , currently in the advanced planning stages, will run from Mentougou District west of the city to Pingguoyuan, the western termini of Line 1 and Line 6 of the Beijing Subway. Construction was originally expected to begin in 2009, but was delayed to February 2011.
On August 10, 2009, the Beijing Municipal Railway Transport Construction Management Company announced that the Mentougou Line would be completed as a low-speed Maglev line, operating fully Chinese-made sets. Its maximum speed will be 160 km/h (99 mph). The expected date for the start of trial operations is 2015. Construction of the line began on 28 February 2011.
According to plans as of August 2008, there will be six S-Lines by 2020 with a total length of 360 km (220 mi) that will span from the city centre to Mentougou, Miyun, Pinggu, Shunyi, Huangcun, and Fangshan.