Line 1 (Beijing Subway)

As the oldest line of the Beijing Subway, Line 1 was also the most heavily used from the time the subway opened in 1971 until January 2013, when the near-completion of the Line 10 loop caused ridership on that line to surge past Line 1. Recent traffic relief efforts have been completed in recent years. The opening of the first phase of the parallel Line 6, caused an 8.46% decrease in daily demand and a 10-20% reduction in peak flow during rush hour.^[8] In addition Beijing BRT line 2 parallels the eastern section of Line 1. In the meantime between 2014 and 2015, Line 1 again upgraded its signals to a communications-based train control system allowing trains to run at headways as low as 1 minutes 45 seconds. However, during peak hours, sections of the line were reported in 2013 to still operate above 100% capacity.^[8]

The first east-bound trains departs from Gucheng at 4:58 am and Pingguoyuan at 5:10 am. The first west-bound train departs Sihui at 4:56 am and Sihui East at 5:05 am. The last east-bound train leaves Pingguoyuan at 10:55 pm. The last west-bound train leaves Sihui East at 11:15 pm.^[9]

Line 1's western terminus is Pingguoyuan, located in Shijingshan District. The line heads southeast to its second stop at Gucheng and from there runs straight east, following Chang'an Avenue all the way to its eastern terminus, Sihuidong in Chaoyang District, just beyond the 4th Ring Road. The line passes through Xidan, Wangfujing and Dongdan, among other important commercial centers of Xicheng and Dongcheng Districts, as well as the Beijing CBD near the China World Trade Center. The line is 31.04 km (19.29 mi)^[6] in length with 23 stations in operation. All stations except for Sihui and Sihuidong are underground.

Station list for Line 1 and Batong line of Beijing Subway, after the through operation started on August 29, 2021.^[7]

● Normal: Gucheng — Huanqiu Dujiaqu (Universal Resort)
● Morning rush hour: Gongzhufen — Guoyuan
● Evening rush hour: Gucheng — Guoyuan

The first section of subway in Beijing officially started trial operation on January 15, 1971. It was 10.7 km (6.6 mi) long and ran between Beijing railway station to Gongzhufen,^[b] which today is a section of Line 1 and 2.^[12] A few months later, on August 15, 1971, the line was extended 3 stations west, to Yuquan Lu. The line was extended again to Gucheng in November. On April 23, 1973, the line was extended Pingguoyuan, at this point the line is 23.6 km (14.7 mi) long with 17 stations.^[12] On September 15, 1981, the line was again extended westward to Fushouling creating a 27.6 km (17.1 mi) long line with 19 stations. The line was transferred to the newly created Beijing Mass Transit Operation Corporation and was officially opened to the public, ending the decade long trial operation period. By 1981, the annual passenger volume of Beijing Subway was 64.66 million passengers, with a daily average of 177,000 passenger trips.^[13]

On August 15, 1986, the second phase of subway construction started and a feasibility study on the construction of the new line between of Fuxingmen to Bawangfen (Today's Beijing CBD) was carried out. A new branch heading east to a new station, Fuxingmen, was completed between Nanlishi Lu and Changchun Jie stations on December 28, 1987. The section between Changchun Jie and Beijing railway station was transferred to the newly created Line 2 and Line 1 ran between Pingguoyuan and Fuxingmen stations. In January 1991, the feasibility study report on the construction of a new line between Fuxingmen to Bawangfen was approved with construction of the new "Fuba line", starting in June 1992. On December 12, 1992, Line 1 was extended east for one station to Xidan. In 1994, Line 1's signals were upgraded to automatic train protection system.^[14] On September 28, 1999, the first section of the Fuba line between Tian'anmenxi to Sihuidong was opened. On June 28, 2000, the section between Xidan and Tian'anmenxi stations opened, merging Line 1 and the Fuba Line to create a 31 km (19 mi) line with 23 stations.^[14]

Headway Reduction

Since 2014, the signaling and power systems has been gradually upgraded to allow for trains to run more frequently.^[15] The upgraded CBTC moving block signaling system in place today reduces rush hour headways from every 2 minutes and 5 seconds to 1 minute 45 seconds.^[16]

Platform screen doors

Due to platform congestion and suicides, a proposal was made in 2010 to refit all stations on Line 1 with platform screen doors.^[17] However, the ventilation system in the older stations of Line 1 was incompatible with full-height platform screen doors, so half height platform screen doors were chosen instead.^[18] In July 2016, the operator began installing platform screen doors on Line 1.^[19] In 2016, the platform screen doors was installed at Yong'anli station.^[20] By the end of 2017, all stations except Pingguoyuan were retrofitted with half-height platform screen doors, and all the screen doors were put into operation for the first time.^[21]

Through operations with the Batong line

In 2010, a CPPCC member Chen Dingwang, proposed that services on Line 1 and the Batong line should directly link, with through operations, reducing travel times and removing the unnecessary forced transfers at Sihuidong or Sihui.^[22] However, the Beijing Subway responded that Line 1's and Batong's signal systems are completely different, so through-operation will be more difficult to achieve, from an engineering standpoint. As of 2016, preliminary design and feasibility studies are underway to allow for through operations between Line 1 and Batong.^[23] On June 12, 2020, the project of the through operation of Line 1 and Batong line was approved by Beijing Development and Reform Commission.^[24] Through operation with the Batong line started on 29 August 2021.^[7]

Rolling stock for Line 1 is parked and maintained at Gucheng Depot and Sihui Carpark.

Beyond Pingguoyuan, Line 1 extends further northwest where it has several other stations: Gaojing (高井) and Fushouling (福寿岭). Gaojing station is in the military region. Fushouling station is actually outside the military region. These stations are not open for public use.

Fushouling station will open to public in 2023.^[25][26]

A proposal to open the Gaojing station to public is mentioned within 2022 and 2023 working plan of the Shijingshan District.^[25][27]

Increasing capacity

Due to Line 1's severe overcapacity problem, there are plans to introduce 7-car or longer trains. In order for this plan to proceed the oldest section of Line 1 between Pingguoyuan and Nanlishi Lu, which only has platforms long enough to accommodate 6-car trains, will need to be lengthened. The newer section between Fuxingmen and Sihuidong, formerly known as "Fuba line" during construction, has platforms long enough for 8-car trains.^[28][29] According to an interview to the director of Beijing Municipal Transport Commission in December 2022, they will introduce 7-car trains in the eastern section of Line 1 and the Batong line in future.^[30]

Branch to Qinglonghudong

On 8 July 2022, an EIA document regarding Phase III construction of Beijing rail transport system (2022–2027) mentions a proposal about the branch line of Line 1. The branch line is a southwest-to-northeast line starts from Qinglonghudong (located at the east side of Qinglong Lake, in Wangzuo, Fengtai District) to Bajiao Amusement Park in Shijingshan District. It will be 19.9 km (12.4 mi) in length with 9 new stations.^[31] Construction on the Line 1 branch began on January 19, 2024.^[32]

Current

Model	Image	Manufacturer	Year Built	Year Refurbished	Amount in Service	Fleet Numbers	Depot
DKZ4G [zh]		CRRC Changchun Railway Vehicles Beijing Subway Rolling Stock Equipment	1998–2001	2007 2010-2012 2015-2016 2020-2021	31	S401–S431 (01 001–01 031)	Sihui [zh] (except two in Gucheng [zh])
SFM04/04A [zh]		CRRC Qingdao Sifang Beijing Subway Rolling Stock Equipment	2006–2011	2021	39	G432–G470 (01 032–01 070)	Gucheng
SFM01/02/07 [zh]			2003–2005	2008 2015-2020 2021	108	TQ401–TQ408, TQ415–TQ424 (01 071–01 078, 01 085–01 094)	Tuqiao [zh]
BDK06 [zh]		Beijing Subway Rolling Stock Equipment	2018–2021		72	TQ431–TQ437 (01 101–01 107), 01 108–01 112	Tuqiao, Sihui

Former

All were based at Gucheng depot.

Model	Image	Manufacturer	Year Built	Years in service	Number Made	Fleet Numbers (Before 1996)	Fleet Numbers (After 1996)	Notes
DK1 [zh]		CRRC Changchun Railway Vehicles	1967	—	2	001–002	—	Never ran in service due to exceeding the subway's loading gauge.
DK2 [zh]			1969–1970	1969–1985	80	201–219	—	76 cars were refurbished into DK11.
DK3/3G [zh]			1971–1973	1971-2002	50	Un­known	G101–G107	Transferred to line 13 and Batong line.
DK8 [zh]			1982	Un­known	52	401–413	—	Transferred to line 2.
DK11 [zh]			1984–1985	1984–2008	76	601–619	G201–G207, G2082–G2085, G209–G213
DK20/20G [zh]			1994–1995	1994–2012	42	443–449	G108–G114	Originally retired in 2008, reactivated due to DKZ4 trains being overhauled.
BD1 [zh]		Beijing Subway Rolling Stock Equipment	1990–1992	1990–1994	18	3083–3084, 309–311	—	Transferred to line 2.
BD2/2G [zh]			1994–1998	1995–2012	72	450–454 (first batch only)	G115–G126	Originally retired in 2008, reactivated due to DKZ4 trains being overhauled.
BD3 [zh]			1995	1996–2001	2	—	G2081, G2086	Linked with DK3 cars G2082–G2085.

• Restricted stations of Line 1, Beijing Subway