Subway Line 4 opens for test run

On May 31, Subway Line 4 started a test run for the first time, marking the existence of all required conditions for operation throughout the line. When Line 4 is put into trial operation on September 28, the minimal departure interval will be three minutes (the planned minimal departure interval is two minutes). This is to respond to the large passenger flow of over 700,000 every day.

On May 31, at Line 4's Ping’anli Station, Beijing Opera facial masks in mosaic are shown on the pillars, an echo to the nearby China National Peking Opera Company.

On May 31, at Line 4's Weigongcun Station, emergencystop buttons were already installed on the surface of pillars, allowing staff members to stop the train quickly in case of emergency.

As a main communication artery which runs through Beijing from north to south, Line 4, together with Daxing Line, its southward extension, is expected to handle over one million passengers every day, making it one of the subway lines with the biggest passenger flow in China.

The departure interval of trial operation without passengers is ten minutes.

At 9:30 am on the morning of May 31, following an alerting broadcast, a train slowly went out of the southernmost station Gongyixiqiao, going northwards on its way through major Beijing landmarks such as Xuanwumen, Xidan, Beijing Zoo, Renmin University and the Old Summer Palace via underground passage. It arrived at the northernmost station, Anheqiao North Station, after over one hour. This is the first trial run along the whole line and it shows the line has now reached suitable running conditions.

From May 31 to June 20, Line 4 enters the comprehensive commissioning period; from June 20 on, the section between Gongyixiqiao and Zhongguancun, with a relatively fast progress, will be open to trial operation without passengers. The planned departure interval is 10 minutes.