Line 6 (Beijing Subway)

Stations from west to east:[13]

Line 6 was originally planned to be an east–west line passing under Chaoyang Avenue continuing straight westward. However, this alignment would make the central section of Line 6 tunnel extremely close to the Forbidden City. Issues of historic conservation and protection were raised against the proposed alignment. To avoid damaging cultural relics in the area, the entire western and middle section of line 6 was shifted 1.5 km (0.93 mi) northward to Ping'an Avenue, forming the route of Line 6 today.[16][17] Line 6 started construction on December 8, 2007 as one of the "horizontal" east-west lines of the "three-ring, four horizontal and five vertical and seven radial" Beijing Subway masterplan.[18] Construction is planned in three phases, the first phase in central Beijing, followed by extensions into the eastern and western suburbs.

Line 6 was projected to have a short term volume of 700,000 passengers per day and a long term daily passenger traffic of 1.4 million passengers. Though due to its alignment through some of Beijing's densest residential neighborhoods and paralleling the overcapacity and busy Line 1, some industry leaders believed that the average daily passenger flow of the line may reach 1.4 million passengers per day sooner than expected.[12] Within the first few months of operation, weekday ridership was at 320,000 passengers. However, by 2014, daily ridership had risen to 700,000 with sections operating at 100% capacity during rush hour. Authorities responded by adding more trains and shortening headway to reduce crowding on the line.[2]

Phase I

Route map of Line 6 Phase I

In Phase I, Line 6 runs 30 km (19 mi) from Haidian Wuluju in Haidian District to Caofang in Chaoyang District following Linglong Road, Sanlihe Road, Chaoyang North Road, the west bank of the Grand Canal, and Yunhe East Road. In Phase I, there were 20 stations except the reserved Erligou station. Construction began in December 2007 and was completed in 2012. Total investment for Phase I was estimated at ¥19.7 billion.[13]

Line 6 in Phase I was originally slated to have elevated tracks for 7 km (4.3 mi), east of the 5th Ring Road, from Dingfuzhuang and Changying. After residents along the route raised concerns about train noise, planners reconsidered and ultimately decided to keep all of Phase I underground.[19][20][21] This made the first phase of Line 6 completely underground.[22]

Phase II (eastern extension)

Route map of Line 6 Phase II

In Phase II, which opened in 2014, Line 6 was extended further east by about 12 km (7.5 mi) through seven stations from Caofang to Lucheng in Tongzhou New Town. Like Phase I, the Phase II track is entirely underground.

The extension was designed to have express and local services using passing tracks at select stations.[23] However, due to a shortage of rolling stock, express services have yet to be implemented when the Phase II opens in 2014. In 2018, the government announced that sufficient rolling stock had arrived to begin implementing an express service.[24][25] Express services started operating on March 31, 2020.[9]

• As of October 2007, Line 6 was planned to feature both express and local stations, but those plans have not been incorporated into the construction of Phase I.[31]
• On March 22, 2010, the tunneling work on Line 6 commenced near Shilipu in Chaoyang District.[32]
• As of November 2010, plans for Phase II contained distinct express and local stations.[33]
• On December 30, 2012, the Phase I stations opened, except for Erligou.
• On December 28, 2014, the Phase II stations opened, except for Tongyun Men and Beiyunhe Dong (E).
• On December 30, 2018, the Phase III stations, except for Pingguo Yuan, were opened. An infill station on Phase II, Beiyunhe Dong (E) station, was also opened.

Sendai Subway Tōzai Line

• Media related to Line 6, Beijing Subway at Wikimedia Commons