With a new look for the new year, Ma Fang Station of Metro Line 22 (Pinggu Line) is adorned with a "new outfit," looking exceptionally eye-catching.

Recently, Ma Fang Station successfully completed its facade decoration, becoming the first elevated station on the Pinggu Line to complete facade decoration. In the next step, the builders will proceed with the secondary structural construction of the station, laying a solid foundation for the smooth progress of the project.

As the first cross-provincial urban rapid transit line between Beijing and Hebei, the Pinggu Line is a landmark route in the high-quality development of the 'Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei connected by Rails.' The line, approximately 81.2 kilometers long, starts from Dongdaqiao in Chaoyang District, Beijing, to Pinggu New City in Beijing, passing through key areas such as Chaoyang District, Tongzhou District, Sanhe City in Hebei Province, and Pinggu District in Beijing, connecting key functional areas such as Beijing's central business district, Beijing's urban sub-center, Yanjiao town, in Hebei, and Pinggu new city in Beijing.

Among the 21 stations along the entire line, there are 18 underground stations and 3 elevated stations, including a total of 12 transfer stations. After opening, passengers will be able to transfer to other metro lines such as Line 8, 6, 10, 14, 17, 28, and M101. According to BII Railway Transportation Technology Holdings Company Limited, Pinggu station is the terminus of the entire line and has the functionality of a subway vehicle crossover track. The total length of the station is 493.8 meters, with a standard section structure width of 22 meters, making it the longest station on the entire line.

In Yanjiao town, Hebei, the construction of the Hebei section of the Pinggu Line, undertaken by the China First Engineering Co., Ltd, is also in full swing. The Hebei section of the Pinggu Line is approximately 30.2 kilometers long, with a total of 5 stations and 6 sections. Six tunnel shield machines manufactured and deployed by CCCC Tianhe Mechanical Equipment Manufacturing Co., Ltd have all been launched, entering full-scale tunnel construction. Currently, the first tunnel section in Hebei—the right line of the Shenchao tunnel section—is about to successfully achieve breakthrough, laying a solid foundation for accelerating the project construction progress.

According to the Beijing Major Projects Construction Headquarters Office, the Pinggu Line is the first domestic rapid transit line that integrates subway and urban rapid transit. It is designed with conditions for interconnection with the intercity network, achieving innovative 'multi-network integration.' And it will implement mixed operations with fast and slow trains, asymmetric departures, and multiple route operations for the first time in Beijing. The line will use city-type D-trains with 8 cars per train set, designed to reach a maximum speed of 160 kilometers per hour on the surface and elevated sections, and 120 kilometers per hour in underground sections.

After completion and opening, the journey from the northern three counties(Sanhe county, Dachang Hui Autonomous County and Xianghe county) to the urban sub-center will be achieved in as fast as 9 minutes. The shortest travel time from the three counties to the CBD area (Dongdaqiao Station) will be approximately 32 minutes, and the shortest travel time from Pinggu District to the CBD area will be approximately 55 minutes.

Translator: NIU Lihua

Reviewer: TANG Yuxin