Type Rapid transit Status Operational Line length 16.5 km (10.3 mi) | System Beijing Subway Character Underground Stations 12 | |
 | ||
Daily ridership 460,800 (2014 Avg.)
637,900 (2016 Peak) Operator Beijing Mass Transit Railway Operation Corporation Limited Terminis Guogongzhuang Station, National Library Station | ||
Line 9 of the Beijing Subway (Chinese: 北京地铁9号线; pinyin: běijīng dìtiě jiǔhào xiàn) is rapid transit line in western Beijing. The line runs 16.5 km from the National Library to Guogongzhuang in Fengtai District with nine stations. The line has 13 stations. Line 9's color is chartreuse.
Contents
History
In 1989, the State Council decided to build Beijing West Railway Station on the Beijing-Kowloon Railway. Subway planning had determined that Beijing West Railway Station shall be the interchange between Lines 7 and 9. However, no provision for an interchange station was added in the railway station's design. The railway station was completed in 1996. 15 years later Beijing West Station was rebuilt and expanded with provisions were added to the basement of the station for Lines 7 and 9. In 2002, in preparation for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, it was proposed that the first section of Line 9 should be built between Baishiqiao to Beijing West Railway Station (today's National Library to Beijing West Railway Station section). The entire length of the proposed line was 5.8 kilometers. However the line only started construction in April 2007, with a planned opening date of 2010 and the original northern section between Baishiqiao to Beijing West Station was further delayed until 2012, making an opening before the Olympics unlikely.
In December 31, 2011 the 11.1 km, 9 station southern section from Guogongzhuang to Beijing West Railway Station opened. At the time the line was only connected to the Fangshan Line, isolated from the rest of the Beijing Subway network. Passengers had to transfer to shuttle buses that connected to the main subway network to continue their journey. That is why in 2011, the line was sparsely used. The situation did not improve in April 29, 2012 when the Beijing subway exceeded a record 8 million daily riders, with the daily ridership of Line 9 being only 46,300.
On December 30, 2012, the original northern section from the Beijing West Railway Station to the National Library Station entered into operation. This finally connected Line 9 and the Fangshan Line to the rest of the subway network and made all major Beijing train stations accessible by subway. The underground connections for the transfer between Line 9 and Line 1 was not completed at the opening of the Line 9 extension. Between December 2012 and December 2013, Line 9 skipped Military Museum Station. Line 9's passenger traffic began to grow rapidly after the northern section went into operation. As of January 2013, the average daily passenger traffic was already three times higher than in December 2012, at 220,000 rides. The Line 1 - Line 9 transfer was completed at the Military Museum Station on December 21, 2013.
List of Stations
Fleet
Line 9 is served by a fleet of 24 6-car trains built by CNR Changchun.
Future development
Line 9 was originally proposed to be extended future north and west to Haidian Shanhou, but this proposal has since been abandoned with the opening of Line 16. It is currently planned to be extended to the north ending at Xi'erqi Station where it will interchange with Line 13 and Changping Line.