Making tracks
As gridlock grips the capital's roads, Beijing's subway system is feeling the strain. But what, asks Hannah Xu, is the government doing about it? Quite a lot, as it happens. Pictures by Simon Song
It’s 8am on a sticky summer Friday as 24-year-old Chen Long arrives at Liujiayao subway station, in the Fengtai district of southeast Beijing, to begin his daily commute. Chen is in luck: the queuing rail – a crowd-control solution commonly seen outside the city’s Metro stations – is clear. On some mornings Chen needs to queue for 15 minutes before even getting into the station.
Having descended the stairs, he queues to have his backpack checked – another routine procedure, one introduced ahead of the 2008 Beijing Olympics and still in effect.
Picking up his bag from the other side of the screening machine, he pushes his way to the far end of the platform, a habit that buys him a shorter walk to the escalator when he changes from Line 5 to Line 2.
Twenty people are lined up ahead of Chen on the platform. The train arrives. When he reaches the door, there is hardly any available space inside the carriage. He squeezes in and the door bangs shut behind him.
Inside the packed train, the air conditioning is fighting a losing battle against millions of sweat glands. There is nothing for Chen to hold on to, but there’s no danger of him falling over: the weight of the crowd keeps passengers upright. On some days, when he stands by the seated area, he can read the news on his mobile phone but today he is unable to reach into his bag for the device and he can do no more than count the stops before exiting.
Chen would prefer to take a bus to work. A direct route runs from his neighbourhood to his downtown office, on Financial Street. It would be less crowded, but the congested roads can double his travel time.
“Often the bus is just stuck in the traffic,” he says. “It can take more than half an hour for it to move past a 500-metre long, badly jammed part of the road. The subway is crowded but it’s the only means of transport that can get me to work on time.”
