Beijing Subway in Late 2021: Up To 11 New Lines or Extensions?

IMPORTANT: DISCLAIMER — THE CONTENTS OF THIS POST ARE OF A PREDICTIVE NATURE AND REFER TO LINES BEING BUILT AND/OR IN PLANNING. THERE IS NO GUARANTEE THESE LINES WILL BE BUILT AND/OR OPEN AS SCHEDULED OR AT ALL. READERS ARE ADVISED NOT TO RELY EXCLUSIVELY ON THE CONTENT OF THIS POST IN MAKING DECISIONS TO RELOCATE, OR BUY OR RENT HOUSING IN THE CITY OF BEIJING.

Don't leave China! (We're Corona-safe... in spite of the recent flare-ups in and around Beijing... oh and there's also all that about the trains...)

The following lines are expected to open up by late 2021 (although City Hall may give more precise details later on):

Line 7 (Huazhuang – Universal Resort)

Line 8 (National Art Museum – Zhushikou)

Line 11 (Moshikou – New Capital Iron & Steel Works)

Line 14 (Beijing South Railway Station – Xiju)

Line 16 (Ganjiakou – Yuyuantan East Gate)

Line 17 (Shilihe – Yizhuang Railway Station South)

Line 19 (Mudanyuan – Caoqiao)

Batong Line (Huazhuang – Universal Studio)

Capital Airport Express (Dongzhimen – Beixinqiao)

Changping Line (Xi'erqi – Qinghe Railway Station)

Mentougou Maglev (Jin'an Bridge/Qiao – Pingguoyuan)

Here's why they're significant...

Line 7 + Batong Line (八通線)

Huazhuang (花莊) – Universal Resort (環球影視城)

This all, of course, depends if Universal Resort can open in time in the first half of 2021 — there's not too much use if the Subway shuttles people to and forth to and from — the middle of nowhere!

Don't, by the way, underestimate Huazhuang's mere existence, even if it's rather remote. When the Intercity Connector Line (城際鐵路聯絡線) opens a few years from now, you'll be able to hop onto the latter to either Beijing airports — Capital (PEK) by Shunyi, or Daxing (PKX) — from this station! (It will also go to Hub Tongzhou, Langfang (East), and may end up as far north as Huairou South Railway Station!)

Of all the new lines and extension, this one (involving two lines) could be the first to open...!

Line 8

National Art Museum (中國美術館) – Zhushikou (珠市口)

Some years ago, when white hair plagued yours truly less than before, he noted Line 8 would sneak east of the Forbidden City (erhm, the Palace Museum), and would stop there, as it was very challenging territory further south. Luckily, the subway architects have found a way through and the link between the north and south parts of Line 8 is coming sooner.

The works sites around Jinyu Hutong (金魚胡同), Wangfujing (王府井), and Qianmen (前門) suggest that works are indeed wrapping up soon. All that's really missing are the tracks, signs, and the trains themselves — creeping up further north (or south)!

Once Line 8 North and South merge, customers will be able to travel from the cross-platform interchange at Zhuxinzhuang (朱辛莊) all the way to Yinghai (瀛海) terminus way south. That's all of Beijing north of the northern 5th Ringway all the way south of the southern 5th Ringway. An extension even further south would be a jaw-dropping proposal indeed, but if there's anything you learn from being in Beijing, it's that nothing really is impossible...

Line 11

Moshikou (模式口) – New Capital Iron & Steel Works (新首鋼)

The Beijing Subway, back in 2002, suffered from a major arithmatical challenge. If yours truly thought some of Disney's Rescue Rangers henchmen of the evil Fat Cat had a mathematical dysfunction counting 1, 2, 3, 5 (or 1, 2, 3, 7), imagine the horror of a Subway system counting 1, 2, 13!

No longer. Throughout the years, we've filled the gaps with Lines 4 to 10, and expanded it a little with Lines 14 through to 16. Line 3 is well on its way, and now Line 11 is (just about) here. (Line 12 is being built, too; Line 13 will soon split into two, in fact!)

This bit of Line 11 takes viewers to the bit around Shougang Big Air, a Beijing 2022 venue inside the Capital Iron & Steel Works (Shougang; 首鋼). It then joins the rest of the network at Jin'an Bridge/Qiao, with the rest of the first big going to the new area of Capital Iron & Steel Works, also known as Xin (New) Shougang. The 11 will eventually grow to be another Line 8, it critically linking Beijing West/Xi and Beijing South/Nan railway stations in one line!

Line 14

Beijing South Railway Station (北京南站) – Xiju (西局)

Works are still underway in the crucially important Lize Business District (麗澤商務區), but all other stations are just about ready for linking the hitherto split western and eastern parts of Line 14 as one.

There's another station we haven't talked much about — Jingfengmen (景風門), which is expected to be a crossover point between Line 14 and Line 19. Hopefully, that'll open up as well. (Jingfengmen is actually on the Line 14 maps, but onboard, it's covered in black tape.)

Unfortunately, with this extension and joining of Lines 14 West and East, we'll no longer be able to step onboard empty trains at Beijing South for the CBD and Wangjing — we'll have to squeeze in with others after getting off from High Speed services. Oh well, at least we'll have more destinations to choose from!

Line 16

Ganjiakou (甘家口) – Yuyuantan East Gate (玉淵潭東門)

Some are placing this bit as part of Line 16 South, to open in 2022, but there is potentially a chance this bit could open by next year. Most stations in Line 16 South are pretty much nearing completion (except for a few stops in the far south), so we're just waiting on those, plus the always-difficult-to-master Lize Business District station.

Asking Yuyantan East Gate (玉淵潭東門) to open ahead of other bits of Line 16 isn't impossible, by the way. In earlier plans, Line 16 would have opened through to Muxidi (木樨地) interchange (with Line 1), and that opening would have happened last year (late December 2020)! (Also, opening just one extra station close to a major interchange was a feat we've already seen happen with Line 8 North — when it crawled forward from Nanluoguxiang interchange to the National Art Museum.)

Although it would have made sense for Line 16 to extend further south to Muxidi interchange, this is far easier said than done. Muxidi was built as part of the city's very first Subway line over 50 years ago, and there was no futureproofing done back then — Line 16 wasn't even thought-of back in the 1960s and 1970s, when Line 1 was being built! Therefore, expect some potential delays in fitting in interchange passageways and the like, especially when you have some key state organisations in the vicinity. As much as we would have loved to call the hugely useful Muxidi for a late 2021 opening, we prefer you were surprised rather than disappointed...

Line 17

Shilihe (十裡河) – Yizhuang Railway Station South (亦莊站前區南)

Although this bit of Line 17 might not make it for a transfer with the recently-opened Yizhuang Tram Line 1, it's still a welcome addition to the network, as it covers some very rural and underdeveloped parts of southeastern Beijing.

The rest of Line 17 is expected to follow in two more stages: the bit from Future Science Park North to Workers Stadium was planned to open in mid-2023, but seems now to move closer to a potential late 2022 opening, with much work done in especially the suburban part of the line. The remaining bit from Workers Stadium via the increasingly-massive Dongdaqiao interchange to Shilihe should be open a year later (fingers crossed, before the Asian Cup 2023!). This bit is proceeding slightly slower as it is in central Beijing.

The railways don't seem overly enthusiastic to open Yizhuang Railway Station, so once this bit of Line 17 opens, customers can take the "slow route" out from Beijing South on Line 14, then cross over at Shilihe to Line 17 through to the terminus.

Line 19

Mudanyuan (牡丹園) – Xingong (新宮)

We at Green Tick Expat previously predicted only the southernmost part of Line 19 to open — that between Caoqiao and Xingong. Chances are increasingly good, however, that the rest of Phase I of Line 19 could potentially open as well (the works sites are already quite busy). This new line will also activate one of Line 2's last hidden interchanges (everyone know about Dongsi Shitiao and Line 3, by the way); the 19 will cross paths with Line 2 at Jishuitan.

Finance Street (Jinrongjie) interchange (金融街) will be a station to watch out for. It's likely (or not) that the 19 will feature an interchange passageway (very long one, at that) with Lines 1 and 2 at Fuxingmen (復興門). Think of this as the Châtelet-Les Halles station in the Beijing network...

Ping'anli (平安裡) station, in the meantime, is likely to be a four-line superhub, featuring this line (the 19) along with Lines 4 and 6, as well as a future western extension of Line 3. The 19 will terminate at Xingong, where a connection to the Daxing Line will be available.

Capital Airport Express (首都機場線)

Dongzhimen (東直門) – Beixinqiao (北新橋)

This bit has been delayed for a billion trillion years (OK, merely three). The earliest plans had this opening in late 2018, then it was pushed back, year after year. It even took out Exit A at Beixinqiao (Line 5) for it to be realised.

When it finally, after those billions of trillions of years, opens up in late 2021, it might be the final extension of the line — it looks increasingly unlikely to extend further west, even though on paper an extension to Line 8 may be attractive.

Dongzhimen was originally intended to have an in-town check-in facility — there's a chance Beixinqiao could have a similar facility. Such options are reality already on the Daxing Airport Express. Operators could also borrow another bit from the PKX Express: changing the fare structure to allow those travelling within the city centre cheaper fares instead of the one-size-fits-all CNY 25.— passengers on this line are all required to pay at present.

Changping Line (昌平線)

Xi'erqi (西二旗) – Qinghe Railway Station (清河站)

With much of the Changping Line Southern Extension in progress, this one is a relative no-brainer, but it could open anyway. When Beijing redid its Qinghe Railway Station, platforms were built already for Line 13 and the Changping Line's southern extension. In fact, if you look very closely at signage, you could even make out the Changping Line route logo, covered by thick tape in dark blue.

Therefore, it's just a case of extending the tracks over to Qinghe Railway Station from Xi'erqi. However, it looks like the Changping Line will need to take quite a dive, as its platforms at Qinghe Railway Station is at Basement 2 — very different from Xi'erqi, where it's on the upper level. (The Line 13 platforms are at ground level, although the concourse is underground.)

The rest of the Changping Line's southern extension will take longer — beyond Qinghe Railway Station, it'll likely stop first at Liudaokou (change with Line 15 there) before ending up at Jimen Bridge on the northern 3rd Ringway.

Mentougou Maglev (Line S1)

Jin'an Bridge/Qiao (金安橋) – Pingguoyuan (蘋果園)

This one is an absolute no-brainer. The elevated tracks have already crossed over Fushi Road Elevated Highway — this is where the maglev line gets crazy high as in above ground level — and it's expected to remain an elevated station at the Pingguoyuan terminus, where it is also expected to meet Lines 1 and 6.

Here's something you might not have known about the Mentougou Maglev: in the earliest plans in the late 2000s, the idea was for it to start at Cishou Temple/Si (慈壽寺) interchange, where it would mix with Lines 6 and 10. However, the bit from Cishou Temple to Pingguoyuan was eventually taken over by "the 6".

Whether or not the Mentougou Maglev will extend further beyond Shichang terminus at the other end is unknown... although we do see Tanzhe Temple (潭柘寺) potentially waving at it...