Beijing subway to increase train frequencies, but still lags behind Hong Kong MTR
An ongoing upgrade to the signal system of a Beijing subway line may delight the city's harried commuters by further increasing train frequencies; however, it still falls short of the impressive record held by the Hong Kong MTR, which dispatches a train every 1.9 minutes during peak hours.
The Beijing Subway Company is currently upgrading the 20-year-old signal system of its oldest route, Line 1, which would make it one of the busiest subway systems in the world, local newspapers said on Thursday.
“By the time [the upgrade] completes, it will help reduce the interval between trains during rush hours by another 5 seconds, to 2 minutes,” an official at the company told the South China Morning post on Thursday.
Several local papers, including and , have said this would put Line 1 among the busiest underground transportation systems in the world.
However, even after the upgrade, the Line 1 still lags slightly behind its Hong Kong counterpart, MTR's Island Line in terms of train frequencies.
