As is learned from Beijing Subway Corporation, the overall renovation work of seven systems, namely, truck lines, trains, signals, communication, power supply, electromechanical system as well as the automatic ticket selling and checking system, will be launched in Beijing subway line one and line two soon.

An article carried on Beijing Daily, an influential newspaper in Beijing, commented that the scale of this current subway renovation was unprecedented, with the total investment reaching 4.3 billion yuan this time. Among the total investment, 3.7 billion yuan will be used to remove the potential safety hazard of trains and equipment, and the remaining 0.6 billion yuan will be used for the building of automatic ticket selling and checking system in all the stations along line one and line two.

Wang Dexing, Chairman of Beijing Subway Corporation, noted that the general plan has been decided, and the biddings of large-scale equipment and renovation are now under preparation. In July this year, the renovation of truck lines and the reform of automatic ticket selling and checking system will be the first among all the renovation processes. It is estimated that the idea of using the card to access subway will be realized by 2007. Additionally, the renovation plans of other system will also be completed till 2010. Particularly, some key renovation work closely related to the normal operation of subway will be finished before the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.

By People's Daily Online