Pinggu Line construction on track

Beijing has picked up the pace on its first intercity rapid railway transit line and it is expected to open in 2025, authorities said on Sunday.

Work is progressing on the Pinggu Line, which stretches 81.2 kilometers to connect downtown and Beijing with its suburban Pinggu district, said Yang Liming, an official from the Beijing Major Projects Construction Office.

The line includes a 30-kilometer section in Hebei province. It will travel through Yanjiao of Sanhe county, where a massive group of people commute to and from downtown Beijing every day. When finished, it will take about 9 minutes to travel from Yanjiao to Beijing's subcenter, or 32 minutes to Dongdaqiao, where the capital's central business district is located, much shorter than the current one-and-a-half-hour trip.

Yang said six of the 21 stations already had their main structures completed, and tunnels are expected to be finished by the end of next year. After proper test runs, it will open in 2025 and better facilitate the integration of Beijing and Hebei.