Photo by keso of Flickr.

I was on the Wired Blog today and came across an article about Beijing’s ambitious plan to create one of the world’s largest metros, nearly twice as big as the one in Moscow and just edging out London’s vast underground network. A few weeks back I posted an entertaining video about a hard-hat wearing journalist who tests out the new metro, as well as Beijing’s new Bus Rapid Transit system. But I must admit that the Wired piece is a little bit more helpful when it come to the facts and figures. Here’s some of the interesting things it has to say:

• Beijing has a population of 17.4 million people
• By 2020 it will have expanded to 21.4 million people
• The Beijing government plans to invest 80 billion yuan ($10.8 billion U.S.) on its metro network, currently 142-kilometer long
• 5 new subway lines are under construction and will be finished by 2015
• At the end of the project Beijing expects to have 561 kilometers of metro track

Even with all this construction, it’s still probably not enough.

Ethan Arpi

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