Type Rapid transit Status Operational Stations 23 | System Beijing Subway Opened 1971 | |
 | ||
Daily ridership 1,234,900 (2014 Avg.)
1,536,900 (2014 Peak) Operator(s) Beijing Mass Transit Railway Operation Corp., Ltd Terminis Sihui East Station, Pingguoyuan Station | ||
Line 1 of the Beijing Subway (Chinese: 北京地铁1号线; pinyin: běijīng dìtiě yīhào xiàn) is the oldest and one of the busiest lines of Beijing's mass transit rail network. Line 1 runs underneath Chang'an Avenue, the city's grand east–west thoroughfare, right through the heart of Beijing with stops on either side of Tiananmen Square. Line 1's color is red.
Contents
Hours of operation
The first east-bound trains departs from Guchenglu at 4:58am and Pingguoyuan at 5:10am. The first west-bound train departs Sihui at 4:56am and Sihui East at 5:05am. The last east-bound train leaves Pingguoyuan at 10:55pm. The last west-bound train leaves Sihui East at 11:15pm. For the official timetable, see.
Route
Line 1's western terminus is Pingguoyuan, located in the Western Hills of Shijingshan District. The line heads southeast to its second stop at Gucheng and from there runs straight east, following Chang'an Avenue all the way to its eastern terminus, Sihui East in Chaoyang District, just beyond the 4th Ring Road. The line passes through Xidan, Wangfujing and Dongdan, among other important commercial centers of Xicheng and Dongcheng Districts, as well as the Beijing CBD near the China World Trade Center. Line 1 intersects twice with the Line 2 loop, at Fuxingmen and Jian'guomen, once with Line 4 at Xidan, once with Line 5 at Dongdan, and twice with Line 10 at Gongzhufen and Guomao. From Sihui and Sihui East, passengers can transfer to Batong Line which runs further east, to Tongzhou District. The line's total operational length is 30.4 km. It has 23 stations in operation; all except for Sihui and Sihui East are underground.
History
As the oldest line of the Beijing Subway, Line 1 was also the most heavily used from the time the subway opened in 1969 until January 2013, when the near-completion of the Line 10 loop caused ridership on that line to surge past Line 1. Recent traffic relief efforts have been completed in recent years. The opening of the first phase of the parallel Line 6, caused an 8.46% decrease in daily demand and a 10-20% reduction in peak flow during rush hour. In addition Beijing BRT line 2 parallels the eastern section of Line 1. However, during peak hours sections the line still operates above 100% capacity.
Other facilities
Rolling stock for Line 1 are maintained at Guchenglu and Sihui.
Beyond Pingguoyuan, Line 1 extends further west into a military base where it has several other stations including 54# Heishitou/Wulituo (黑石头/五里坨), 53#/No. 101 Gaojing/Beijing Military Region (高井/北京军区) and 52#/No. 102 Fushouling/Metro Drivers' Vocational School (福寿岭/地铁驾校). These stations are not open for public use.
Increasing capacity
Due to Line 1's severe overcapacity problem there are plans to introduce seven-car trains. In order for this plan to proceed the oldest section of line 1 between Pingguoyuan and Nanlishilu, which only has platforms long enough to accommodate six-car trains, will have to be lengthened. However the section between Fuxingmen and Sihui East has platforms long enough for 8 car trains. Due to the high cost of extending the platforms of the underground stations the plan is currently put on hold.
Through operations with the Batong Line
In 2010, a CPPCC member Chending Wang, proposed that Line 1 and the Batong Line directly link, with through operations, reducing travel times by removing the unnecessary forced transfers at Sihui East or Sihui. However, the Beijing Subway responded that Line 1's and Batong's signal systems are completely different, so through-operation will be more difficult to achieve, from an engineering standpoint. As of 2016, preliminary design and feasibility studies are underway to allow for through operations between Line 1 and Batong.
Platform screen gates
Due to platform congestion and suicides there is a proposal to refit all stations on Line 1 with platform screen doors. However, the arrangement of ventilation in the older stations of Line 1 is incompatible with full-height platform screen doors, so half-height gates will be used. The first screen door was built at Yong'anli Station. Several days later, screen doors was built at Guomao Station.