The western section of Beijing's urban railway, connecting Xizhimen with the northern suburb of Huoying, was put into trial operation Saturday.
The 20.62-km-long railway is the first light railway to operate in Beijing.
The Xizhimen-Huoying railway is the western section of Beijing's 40.85 km urban railway system, which is to improve passenger transport in the northern suburbs of the city.
Construction of the 6.57 billion yuan (about US$791 million) project began in 1999 and the entire system is expected to operational next year.
The Beijing urban railway starts at Xizhimen, running through the northern and northeastern suburbs of Beijing, where newly developed residential and business districts, and prestigious Chinese universities like Beijing University and Qinghua University are located, and ends at Dongzhimen.
Jia Qinglin, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and secretary of the Beijing Municipal CPC Committee, and Liu Qi, the city mayor, attended Saturday's ceremony marking the operation of the urban railway, and joined the first group of passengers aboard the first train running on the route.
( People's Daily September 29, 2002)
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