Following a successful safety check on Beijing's subway system last Thursday that gave the 40-year-old network the all-clear, the city has decided to revamp the system's two oldest lines, the No.1 and No.2 routes.

The city is investing 4.3 billion yuan (US$518 million) in the renovation project.

The first self-designed and constructed routes in Beijing's subway system, the No.1 and No.2 lines carry some 1.5 million passengers a day, 88 percent of the system's daily capacity.

According to Wang Dexing, board chairman of the Beijing Subway Corporation, 3.7 billion yuan (US$447 million) will go towards renovating tracks, trains, communications systems, power supplies and electrical equipment. The balance 0.6 billion yuan (US$71 million) will be used to set up an automated ticketing system. Currently, only the No.13 line offers an AFC (Automatic Fare Collection) service.

The renovations should be completed by end 2010.

Tracks are first on the list of renovations. 52 kilometers of old tracks, or 96 percent of the current total, will be replaced with new seamless steel rails. By the end of 2007, 180 new subway trains, fitted with air-conditioners and passenger data systems should be up and running.

By 2008, interval times between trains will shorten to 2.5 minutes from the current 3 minutes on the No.1 line, and 3.5 minutes on the No.2 line.

To avoid any disruptions to current subway services, work on the tracks will be done between 0:30 AM and 4:00 AM.

The subway corporation is also considering setting up a control center at Xizhimen to manage the No.1, No.2, No.13 and Batong lines.

The north-south No. 4 and No. 5 lines, and the east-west No.10 line are now under construction and expected to be finished before 2008, when the city will host the Olympic Games.

(People's Daily, translated by Li Shen May 31, 2005)