S1

And in further proof that the numbering of Beijing’s subway, light rail and suburban rail lines has nothing to do with the order in which they were constructed (as if such proof were necessary), 新京报/The Beijing News’ Yang Huayun reports that line S1 from the central city to Mentougou will begin construction next year.

I will refrain from marking a snarky remark on the state of New Zealand journalism. Let’s just say that those Kiwi journalists in China right now really should just stick to the sports lest some halfway intelligent non-Kiwi stumbles across their other articles (and blogs so dire you wonder where journalists grow the gall to sneer at us mere bloggers) and the world pisses itself laughing. I mention this because that Beijing News report seems to stem from the same press junket that produced a marginally less awful than normal article in the New Zealand press.

Anyway, here it is:

市郊铁路S1线明年开工

Work on city’s suburban S1 Line to start next year

继北京至延庆的市郊铁路S2线通车之后，北京市第二条市郊铁路———由城区通往门头沟的S1线计划于明年开工建设。昨日，北京市交通委副主任周正宇在组织中外记者参观采访S2线时，透露了上述内容。

Following the Beijing to Yanqing S2 suburban rail line’s opening, Beijing Municipality’s secong suburban rail line- S1 Line from the city area to Mentougou- is planned to begin construction next year. Yesterday, vice chairman of the Beijing Municipal Transport Committee Zhou Zhengyu divulged this information on the visit to the S2 line organised for local and foreign reporters yesterday.

周正宇介绍，根据计划，S1线起点将设在西四环定慧桥北五路，与地铁六号线衔接，终点则直达门头沟中心区，初步计划设在石门营。由于沿线涉及的拆迁较少，S1线开工后，有望在40个月内完工。对于沿线站点设置和位置等更为具体的问题，周正宇则表示尚在研究中。

Zhou Zhengyu said that according to the plan, the S1 would start at the West Fourth Ring Road’s Dinghui Qiao North 5th Road, where it would join the subway Line 6, and its terminus would be in Mentougou’s central district, initially planned to be at Shimenying. As demolitions and relocations along the line would be relatively few, S1 Line would hopefully be completed within 40 months.  In response to more specific questions as to the location and construction of stations along the line, Zhou Zhengyu said such matters were still being considered.

对于已开通的S2线，昨日，周正宇称，S2线在奥运会后，还会进一步提速并启动二期改造工程，时速将由目前的120Km/小时提高到160Km/小时，全线车站增至14个。

Regarding the S2 Line already opened, yesterday Zhou Zhengyu said that after the Olympics S2 Line would take one more step in raising speeds and begin a second phase of the renovation project. The speed would be raised from the current 120 km/h to 160 km/h, and the number of stations along the line would be raised to 14.

关于S2线的票价，周正宇坦言对于延庆居民而言偏高。他表示，正在研究针对延庆居民的票价优惠方案，以降低居住于延庆却在市区上班居民的交通成本。至于将采取什么样的优惠方式和价位，周正宇称目前尚未确定，但推出月票或者打折都在考虑之中。

Regarding the price of S2 Line tickets, Zhou Zhengyu admitted that the price was a bit high for Yanqing residents. He said they were considering a programme of favourable treatment for Yanqing residents to lower the transport costs of those residents of Yanqing who worked in the downtown area. As for what kind of beneficial methods and prices would be adopted, Zhou Zhengyu said that it had not yet been decided, but monthly tickets and discounts were being considered.

周正宇还透露，为方便市郊铁路与轨道交通的换乘，北京将调研市政交通一卡通在市郊铁路使用的可行性。

Zhou Zhengyu also revealed that in order to facilitate changing between suburban rail and light rail, Beijing would research the feasibility of using the municipal transport Yikatong on suburban rail lines.

 And looking over that, I’m thinking I should stay off the 海岛黑啤 while translating….

Anyways, that’s all good news, but I can’t help but think- isn’t the subway Line 1 terminus at Pingguoyuan awfully close to Mentougou? Shouldn’t it be as simple as either extending Line 1 westwards or adding a Batong Line-style light rail extension? And when is Line 6 scheduled to open begin construction, anyway?

I’m glad, though, that they’re reviewing the prices of S2 tickets. I mean, at twice the cost of the bus, why would anyone bother? Apart from to avoid traffic on the Badaling Expressway, of course…. But once they’ve finished the renovation/reconstruction/building of the new truck ‘lane’ on the G110, the traffic should be back to something reasonable. And if they can link it up with light rail- Line 13, I presume- then that will make S2 far, far more attractive and convenient to people who don’t live or work in northern Haidian.