Mega train station resumes construction

Work has resumed on Beijing's new Fengtai Railway Station, said to be Asia's largest and scheduled for completion by the end of next year. 

Covering nearly 400,000 square meters, the station is China's first railway station to adopt an overlapping rail design, which allows regular and high-speed trains to pass in the same time, Duan Xiuzhen, a senior official at the Fengtai Station Construction Headquarters under the China Railway Construction Engineering Group, said on Monday. 

Duan said that before the end of August, construction of the tracks for regular trains will be completed and able to accommodate trains passing through the station. The high-speed rail lines are expected to be completed next year. 

Some key high-speed rail routes, including lines from the capital to Guangzhou, Shanghai and Hong Kong, will pass through the station, Duan said.

The first stage of construction has been completed for the new Fengtai station. Work began in December 2018.

The station will have 17 platforms and 32 rail lines. It will be 78,000 square meters larger than Beijing South Railway Station, currently one of Asia's largest.

The Fengtai station is being relocated 1.4 kilometers northeast of its original location to an area between the west Third and Fourth Ring roads in Beijing.

Originally built in 1895, the old Fengtai station was the oldest in the capital. In June 2010, the station ceased passenger services, and trains just passed through.