Beijing subway may control traffic flow based on platform size

(Ecns.cn)—Beijing subway authorities are now considering how to control peak hour passenger flows in accordance with platform size, said the Fazhi Evening Newspaper on Wednesday.

The city's metro lines cover about 320km so far and are already straining under the pressure of a single day's flow volume of 7 million passengers. It is now the world's most crowded and busiest subway, Zhang Jiaming, director of the city's safety supervision bureau, was quoted as saying this morning.

So far, 32 subway stations in Beijing regularly carry out traffic flow controls during the peak hours between 7 and 9a.m., and 11 of them are designated along Line 5. Passengers enter the stations in controlled batches.

In a slight departure from the current policy, the new plan stipulates each metro station will accommodate the number of passengers reasonable for the size of the platform. However, no details concerning the plan have been revealed.