The Capital Airport Express of the

Beijing Subway The Beijing Subway is the rapid transit system of Beijing Municipality that consists of 25 lines including 20 rapid transit lines, two airport rail links, one maglev line and 2 light rail lines, and 463 stations. The rail network extends acro ...

(), also known by the initials ABC, Airport Beijing City, is an

airport rail link An airport rail link is a service providing passenger rail transport from an airport to a nearby city by mainline or commuter trains, rapid transit, people mover, or light rail. Direct links operate straight to the airport terminal, while o ...

from Beixingqiao station to the

Beijing Capital International Airport Beijing Capital International Airport is one of two international airports serving Beijing, the other one being Beijing Daxing International Airport (PKX). It is located northeast of Beijing's city center, in an exclave of Chaoyang District ...

. The line became operational on July 19, 2008. On subway maps, the Capital Airport Express' color is Pantone 666C.

Overview

Capital Airport Express trains first depart , stop at and , then stop at . Trains then reverse at Terminal 3 and head to . Trains reverse again and proceed to Beixinqiao, stopping at Sanyuanqiao and Dongzhimen along the way. A one-way fare on the Capital Airport Express costs RMB(¥) 25, with no free transfers from other lines.

Stations

History

The Airport Express was originally planned to run non-stop between Dongzhimen and the Capital Airport. An intermediate stop at Sanyuanqiao was subsequently added for the convenience of passengers connecting to Line 10.(Chinese
"全线运营点对点不建磁悬浮机场轨道明年动工" 北京青年报 2003-12-14 [2012-08-25
Designers for the new line considered several types of technology for the Airport Express, including: * high-speed maglev, similar to that of the Shanghai Maglev Train * low-speed maglev, similar to that of the Linimo line in Japan * conventional traction motor, electric motor propulsion * linear motor propulsion The linear motor option was ultimately decided upon. Planning accelerated after the city won the bid to host the 2008 Summer Olympics, 2008 Summer Olympic Games, which included a promise to connect the airport to the Olympic village by subway. The project cost ¥5.4bn and involved a consortium of companies led by the Beijing Dongzhimen Airport Express Rail Company."Beijing_Olympic_Village_Rail_Link_Construction,_China"_Railway-Technology.com._Retrieved_[2012-12-29
/ref> The_project_operated_under_a_tight_delivery_schedule,_initially_with_very_limited_public_disclosure._During_construction,_officials_from_both_the_Beijing_Dongzhimen_Airport_Express_Rail_Co._and_Bombardier_Inc..html" ;"title="012-12-29">"Beijing Olympic Village Rail Link Construction, China" Railway-Technology.com. Retrieved [2012-12-29
/ref> The project operated under a tight delivery schedule, initially with very limited public disclosure. During construction, officials from both the Beijing Dongzhimen Airport Express Rail Co. and Bombardier Inc.">Bombardier expressed concerns about whether the project would be completed, as originally planned, by the end of 2007, with test operations to start in April 2008.Mure Dickie, "Fears over Beijing Olympic rail link" Financial Times
2006-08-18 Retrieved [2012-12-29] At the time, Zhang Jianwei, chief country representative for Bombardier, called the short timetable for a project of this type unprecedented. Zhang expressed confidence that Bombardier would meet its responsibilities as its Chinese contractors routinely worked 24 hours a day, something not possible in other countries. He also noted, however, that even if the line were to open on time, the need for haste could compromise the quality of construction. There was also considerable uncertainty over the progress of the project, the identity of contractors and its operational arrangement. Construction was reported to have begun on June 14, 2005, but aspects of the project still awaited the central government's approval. Local media reported in January 2005 that the train supplier had been “basically decided”, but was not officially selected and announced until March 2006. Track-laying began in March 2007 and was completed by November 2007. Testing using empty trains commenced in April 2008 and official operations started on July 19 of that year, in time for the opening of the Summer Olympic Games on August 8, 2008. The line delivered 2.17 million rides in 2008. A western extension to

Beixinqiao station Beixinqiao station () is a station on Line 5 and Capital Airport Express of the Beijing Subway. It is located in Beixinqiao Subdistrict, at the intersection of Jiaodaokou East Street to the west, Dongzhimen Inner Street to the east, Yonghegong ...

was opened for service on 31 December 2021.

Infrastructure and rolling stock

The Airport Express line adopts Advanced Rapid Transit (since renamed Innovia Metro) technology from

Bombardier Transportation Bombardier Transportation was a Canadian-German rolling stock and rail transport manufacturer, headquartered in Berlin, Germany. It was one of the world's largest companies in the rail vehicle and equipment manufacturing and servicing industry ...

, with a fleet of 10 QKZ5 trains assembled by

Changchun Railway Vehicles CRRC Changchun Railway Vehicles Co., Ltd. () is a Chinese rolling stock manufacturer and a division of the CRRC. While the CRV emerged in 2002, the company's roots date back to the establishment of the Changchun Car Company in 1954. The company b ...

(CRV, now part of

CRRC Corporation CRRC Corporation Limited (known as CRRC) is a Chinese state-owned and publicly traded rolling stock manufacturer. It is the world's largest rolling stock manufacturer in terms of revenue, eclipsing its major competitors of Alstom and Siemens. It ...

) under a

technology transfer Technology transfer (TT), also called transfer of technology (TOT), is the process of transferring (disseminating) technology from the person or organization that owns or holds it to another person or organization, in an attempt to transform invent ...

agreement. The vehicles were based on those used on

AirTrain JFK AirTrain JFK is an elevated people mover system and airport rail link serving John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK Airport) in New York City. The driverless system operates 24/7 and consists of three lines and nine stations within the ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, with Bombardier providing

bogie A bogie ( ) (in some senses called a truck in North American English) is a chassis or framework that carries a wheelset, attached to a vehicle—a modular subassembly of wheels and axles. Bogies take various forms in various modes of transp ...

s as well as the

electrical Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter that has a property of electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described by ...

propulsion Propulsion is the generation of force by any combination of pushing or pulling to modify the translational motion of an object, which is typically a rigid body (or an articulated rigid body) but may also concern a fluid. The term is derived from ...

and

brake A brake is a mechanical device that inhibits motion by absorbing energy from a moving system. It is used for slowing or stopping a moving vehicle, wheel, axle, or to prevent its motion, most often accomplished by means of friction. Background ...

systems, which were assembled by CRV. As with the majority of Beijing Subway trains, the Airport Express trains use a 750 V

third rail A third rail, also known as a live rail, electric rail or conductor rail, is a method of providing electric power to a railway locomotive or train, through a semi-continuous rigid conductor placed alongside or between the rails of a railway t ...

power supply, and have a maximum speed of 110

kilometers per hour The kilometre per hour ( SI symbol: km/h; non-standard abbreviations: kph, km/hr) is a unit of speed, expressing the number of kilometres travelled in one hour. History Although the metre was formally defined in 1799, the term "kilometres per h ...

. Trains are configured in fixed sets of four cars with a total of 230 seats, arranged in a longitudinal layout to maximize their quantity. The line uses

Alstom Alstom SA is a French multinational rolling stock manufacturer operating worldwide in rail transport markets, active in the fields of passenger transportation, signalling, and locomotives, with products including the AGV, TGV, Eurostar, Avelia ...

's "Urbalis"

communications-based train control Communications-based train control (CBTC) is a railway signaling system that uses telecommunications between the train and track equipment for traffic management and infrastructure control. CBTC allows a train's position to be known more accurat ...

system, which is capable of driving trains automatically, although staff still monitor the trains from the front (Grade of Automation level 2). At the time of opening, this system made the Airport Express the first rapid transit line with automated operation in China, and the second such rail line of any kind, after the people mover in Terminal 3 at the airport, which was also supplied by Bombardier. Since January 2020, the interiors of the QKZ5 trains were being renovated. The LCD TV display in the passenger compartment has been changed to a 27-inch smart multimedia display that can display flight information and the static paper route map above the door has also been replaced by dynamic LCD screens showing maps and passenger information. In September 2018, an announcement requesting an 8 additional linear motor trainsets was made. CRRC Changchun won the bid in November of the same year. In 2021, the first train was delivered. The new trains have a blue livery was delivered, equipped with wider seats and mobile phone charging sockets.

Future development

Infill station

Reserved space for an

infill station An infill station (sometimes in-fill station) is a train station built on an existing passenger rail, rapid transit, or light rail line to address demand in a location between existing stations. Such stations take advantage of existing train serv ...

at , where the Capital Airport Express intersects with Line 14, is also part of long-term plans.

Others

In the short term, there is little scope to increase the Capital Airport Express's capacity. The 4-car train sets used on the line have significantly lower capacity than those on other Beijing Subway lines, which operate 6-car or 8-car train sets. Also, the Capital Airport Express track design requires trains from Terminal 3 to first travel to Terminal 2 before returning to the city. If trains were able to return directly from Terminal 3 to the city the capacity on the route could be increased.

Gallery

Airport Line Beijing Subway card 02.jpg, Fare card showing sequence of stops The train of Airport Line, Beijing Subway.JPG, The Capital Airport Express at Terminal 3 Beijing Airport Express.jpeg, The QKZ5 Type L_B rolling stock on the Airport Express. Airport Line, Beijing Subway 01.JPG, Approach to Terminal 3 Coming into Terminal Three.JPG, Entering Terminal 3. 20080801123111 - 北京机场轨道交通线2号航站楼站.jpg, Capital Airport Express entrance at Terminal 2 Beijing Airport Express.jpg, Capital Airport Express train interior in 2008 Interior of L1-1044 (20200825175658).jpg, Capital Airport Express train interior in 2020 Exit B of Sanyuanqiao Station (20190728120314).jpg, station entrance Sanyuanqiao station (Airport line) 20130911.JPG, Capital Airport Express platform at station Platform of Dongzhimen Station, Airport Line (20160426162735).jpg, station platform L1-111 at Tianzhu Depot (20210406093813).jpg, New trains at Tianzhu Depot

References

External links

Beijing Capital International Airport: Transport - Airport Express

{{Beijing Subway Station , Airport=yes Beijing Subway lines Linear motor metros Railway lines opened in 2008 Airport rail links 2008 establishments in China 750 V DC railway electrification Airport rail links in China