New Beijing subway line to improve travel times

China First Highway Engineering Co Ltd, a subsidiary of State-owned China Communications Construction Co Ltd, announced on Monday that the section in Hebei province of the Beijing Subway Line 22, or the Pinggu Line, has reached a significant milestone.

With a tunnel boring machine entering the receiving socket, the first shield section in Hebei province - the Shenchao right line shield section - was successfully connected on Monday. This milestone not only lays a solid foundation for the full line's connectivity but also marks a significant achievement in the integration of transportation in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, said China First Highway Engineering Co in a statement. The Beijing-based company is one of the line's constructors.

The Beijing Subway Line 22 is about 81.2 kilometers long and connects 21 stations. Among them, the underground section is 53.8 kilometers, and the ground section is 27.4 kilometers, data from the city's subway operator Beijing Subway Ltd showed.

After the project is completed and opened to traffic, it will take nine minutes for commuters to travel from Sanhe city, Xianghe county and Dachang Hui autonomous county in Hebei province, to reach Beijing's sub-center in Tongzhou district, and 32 minutes to travel to Beijing's Central Business District near Dongdaqiao station.

The subway line will effectively reduce the travel time between Beijing and Hebei province, greatly improving the efficiency of cross-city commuting for the public, said Leng Xueyan, chief engineering for China First Highway Engineering Co's Beijing Subway Line 22 project.

Currently, the construction of the Beijing Subway Line 22 is progressing smoothly. Substantial work has commenced on 18 work sections. The completion rate of station main structures is 38.3 percent, and that of interval main structures is 15.4 percent.