Subway

[roddy]

I'm not surprised it got a mention, just amazed they didn't mention that in 2007 we are still buying little paper tickets from one lady in blue, and having them torn in half by another lady in blue 10 feet away. And no, I haven't bought an IC card, as I like my little blue tickets to be honest.

[heifeng]

but Roddy (and others) if you don't have an IC card are you actually paying cash on the bus? Student IC card rates are 2mao and others 4mao instead of 1yuan!!! big savings alert! (oh yeah, but it's still 3 yuan for the red & blue subway lines..no savings there...)

[flameproof]

Paris has flat fares in the inner zone(s), which is a fairly large area.

Tokyo does not have flat fares, and several different companies running the underground service means you often have to buy a new ticket when you change trains.

Beijing has flat fares (rmb 3??). Isn't that subway 100+ years old? It looks like.....

Guangzhou does not have flat fares, also has a debit card system, unfortunately subway use only

Shenzhen does not have flat fares, also has a debit card system, unfortunately subway use only

Hong Kong does not have flat fares, but the octopus debit card system makes it painless. Octopus can be used for payments all over HK.

How amazing convenient the Octopus system is will only be realized once we leave Hong Kong.

[johnd]

Shenzhen does not have flat fares, also has a debit card system, unfortunately subway use only

Shenzhen transit card now works on all buses too.

[roddy]

but Roddy (and others) if you don't have an IC card are you actually paying cash on the bus?

Very rarely take the bus, to be honest. I'm quite big on walking places and I live near the subway. Should really get an IC card for the subway, but as I travel off-peak mostly, and am in the habit of keeping a bunch of tickets in my wallet anyway, it doesn't make a great deal of odds.

[flameproof]

A side note about buses in Shenzhen (and therefore some other places in China I guess)

On some buses you have to put the correct amount (or more if you like) into a slot, which then goes unchecked into a large box. Therefore, about 3% of the Shenzhen bus companies income is based on fake rmb notes and coins.

http://www.newsgd.com/citiesandtowns/shenzhen/news/200611030038.htm

The subway has sophisticated ticket vending machines (most are out of order though) and I doubt (the working ones) will take fake money.

[heifeng]

yeah! The bj subway is going to use 2元单一票制and the #5 is going to finally open, both to take effect the 7th of this month look...

[imron]

Huzzah! I wonder if it'll only cost 2 kuai if you swap from line 2 to line 13 or if they'll just say that it counts as separate trips because you have to leave the station.

[roddy]

From the link above

乘客乘坐北京市内除机场线外所有轨道线路，不论乘坐距离长短和换乘次数多少，使用一卡通卡或现金购票，均为每人每次２元。

So yeah, 2Y for as far as you want to go, excluding the airport line. I wonder if this is aimed at getting car users back onto the subway? For someone using lines 3+2 to commute in I think the current cost would be 10Y per round trip, this makes it 4. 20 days a week that's a 120Y a month saving. Not sure if that's substantial enough to make any difference to a car-owning commuter.

[skylee]

Good news as I will visit Beijing soon. I suppose the subway is much cheaper than taking taxis. Is it faster too? (I think I will need to get from Zizhuyuan to tourist places.)

[gato]

Not sure if that's substantial enough to make any difference to a car-owning commuter.

Probably not. Car-owners are well-to-do, probably among the richest 5-10% in the city. They are not going to be attracted to the subway by a mere saving of 4-8 yuan a day. Most of them complain that the subways are too crowded during commute hours and it's not faster than driving since subways stations are far enough from where most people live that they'd have to take a bus to get to them and transfers may be necessary. If Beijing were less spread out and there were more subway lines, fewer people would feel compelled to drive.

[ZooKeeper]

Subway is a criminal joke, the connexion by SHAO YAO JU requires the passengers to get out from a tiny exit, then to cross a road where cars are speeding because they are coming up hill, and then to walk all the way up to SHAO YAO JU station... but before that they have to cross a 4 line road connecting to the highway... At least a 5 minutes and dangerous walk.

Not all subway new lines will be ready for the games evidently...

[reisen]

Munich: Like there so much, easy to find, clean, quite, efficient. The most things that impressed me is like, all the people stand on the right side of the lift, the left side is whole empty , and just for the people who are in a hurry.

Berlin: hate there, it's not easy to find if you want to change lines. don't like so much...

Prague: Also like Munich, quick and clean.

Shanghai: really quick, but always so many people. must waiting so long for a ticket.

Beijing: Don't impressed, don't remember something special.

Nanjing: Only once, not so useful....

London: Old and soooooooooooo deep.... cleaness is ok, but so deep!! The oldest one~

[imron]

Speaking of the Beijing subway, I saw them putting up new ticketing barriers on line 2 today, in what must be preparation for the new ticketing scheme that begins tomorrow.

[roddy]

Do you reckon they'll still have the automated ticket barriers like they do on line 13, and then employ an army of women (always is women, now I think about it. I guess the men all drive the trains?) to make sure everyone uses them properly.

[roddy]

So has anyone taken this new subway line then? Was it worth the wait? Worthy of the Olympics? Is it true it winds its way around the city in five multi-coloured rings?

[skylee]

Have the little paper tickets been phased out in Beijing? I read from the beijing subway website that there is now a stored-value ticket. Is it a magnetic ticket or a proximity card?

I also note that the BJ subway website uses the word "subway" but the subway lines on its map all have a prefix "M" (I guess "L" denotes lightrail and "S" suburb...)

[roddy]

As of May, the two original lines still had the little blue paper tickets, and line 13 had little magnetic tickets. The stored value ticket is a proximity card which you can also use on buses (can't you?). I'd imagine the new line 5 will use the same system as line 13, and that the other two lines will also be upgraded at some point (if not already.

[gougou]

I took a ride on line 5 last weekend. There's big ticket vending machines, and big ticket checking machines, all of which are forbidden to touch for the moment. Before going down to the platform, you still pass through one of the old style card readers for the card also used on buses. If you don't have the card, it's paper tickets still.

But the experience of riding in a modern, clean subway in Beijing is impressive!

One thing I noted is that there was no advertisement whatsoever in the train itself. Presumably they will use the omnipresent flat-screens for that later, but those at the moment are still explaining the way the doors open.

[cdn_in_bj]

I would like to take the subway, but line 1 is just too crowded. And even though I live and work near line 1 stops, it's actually faster for me to drive to work most days. While going home at the end of the day only takes me half the time.

I have heard that the opening of line 5 has made line 1 even more crowded during rush hour, so it looks like it'll be a while before I start taking the subway again. I'm sure that part of this increased volume is also due to the fare reduction. Maybe things will get better when they finish upgrading to the larger trains on line 1.

I heard that there are carparks at the line 5 stations, but apparently these are now usually full. Imagine driving your car to the station, and then not being able to find a parking spot. What does one do then? Drive to work? Or go home and take a bus?

An interesting fact: they were actually planning to change the fare system to charge by distance (like in HK and Shanghai), but this idea got scrapped in favour of the 2RMB flat rate as a good social gesture in time for the big party meeting. Also, the monthly passes are being phased-out - you will no longer be able to use them after the end of this month.