Line 9 (Beijing Subway)


Line 9 of the Beijing Subway is a rapid transit line in western Beijing. The line runs from the in Haidian District to in Fengtai District with 13 stations. All stations are fully underground. Line 9's color is chartreuse.

History

In 1989, the State Council decided to build Beijing West railway station on the Beijing-Kowloon railway. Subway planning had determined that Beijing West railway station would be the interchange between Lines 7, [Beijing">Line 7, Beijing Subway">7, [Beijing Subway|7] and 9. However, no provision for an interchange station was added in the railway station's design. The railway station was completed in 1996. 15 years later Beijing West Station was rebuilt and expanded with provisions added to the basement of the station for Lines 7 and 9. In 2002, in preparation for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, it was proposed that the first section of Line 9 should be built between Baishiqiao and Beijing West railway station. The entire length of the proposed line was. However, the line only started construction in April 2007, with a planned opening date of 2010 and the original northern section between Baishiqiao to Beijing West Station was further delayed until 2012, making an opening before the Olympics unlikely. In the meantime, planners were investigating the possibility of extending Line 9 northwest beyond Baishiqiao and roughly paralleling the almost complete Line 4. However, this Baishiqiao-Wenyang Road Project would head further north to the Haidan area, terminating around the Wenyang Road exit of the 6th Ring Road competing with another proposal where Line 4's northern extension would serve the area. The extension project was would be long and add 13 new stations, creating a long Line 9. However, this project was cut back to the current terminus at Station with the remaining northern sections ultimately redesigned as neither Line 9 or Line 4 but replaced by Line 16.
On December 31, 2011, the nine-station southern section from Guogongzhuang to Beijing West railway station opened. At the time, the line was only connected to the Fangshan Line, isolated from the rest of the Beijing Subway network. Passengers had to transfer to shuttle buses that connected to the main subway network to continue their journey, making the line sparsely used in 2011. The situation did not improve on April 29, 2012 when the Beijing subway exceeded a record 8 million daily riders, with the daily ridership of Line 9 being only 46,300 as it was still isolated from the rest of the network.
After replacement of the Baishiqiao-Wenyang Road Project with Line 16, another proposal was made around 2011 to extend Line 9 north. This time Line 9 would be extended north forming a north-south corridor just west of Line 13 with an interchange with the proposed Line 15 western extension at Xueyuan Road Station. The extension would terminate at Xi'erqi station and help relieve the congestion on the western arc of Line 13 and more directly serve Tsinghua University.
On December 30, 2012, the original northern section from the Beijing West railway station to the entered into operation. This finally connected Line 9 and the Fangshan Line to the rest of the subway network and made all major Beijing train stations accessible by subway. The underground connections for the transfer between Line 9 and Line 1 were not completed at the opening of the Line 9 extension. Between December 2012 and December 2013, Line 9 skipped Military Museum station. Line 9's passenger traffic began to grow rapidly after the northern section went into operation. In January 2013, the average daily passenger traffic was already three times higher than in December 2012, at 220,000 rides. The Line 1 to Line 9 transfer was completed at the Military Museum Station on December 21, 2013.
In 2013, the northern extension proposal was modified again. While still a line connecting National Library to Xi'erqi, the line was now shifted to swing east of Line 13. Later, it was decided that this northern extension project will be divided into two lines at Mingguangqiao West Station. The Southern portion of Mingguangqiao West Station to the National Library Station will still be the north extension line of Line 9. However, the section between Mingguangqiao West Station north to Xi'erqi Station will be replaced by the southern extension of the Changping line. However, only the south extension project of the Changping Line from Xi'erqi to Jimenqiao Stations actually started construction, with the last remaining section of the Changping Line’s south extension to Mingguangqiao West Station and the entire northern extension section of Line 9 put on hold. Also, during that time it was proposed that Line 9 be extended south beyond Guogongzhuang along the west side of Daxing New Town to the Biomedical Base station, with a total length of and 8 stations.
SegmentCommencementLengthStationName
Beijing West Railway Station — Guogongzhuang31 December 20118
Fengtai Dongdajie12 October 2012Infill station1
National Library — Beijing West Railway Station30 December 20123
Military Museum21 December 2013Infill station1

List of Stations

Through service

In 2021, it was announced that there will be some through service between Line 9 and the Fangshan line. The operator is retrofitting the signal systems of both lines to achieve this. Through service started on 18 January 2023.

Rolling Stock

Line 9 is served by a fleet of 37 6-car DKZ33 trains built by CNR Changchun.
ModelImageManufacturerYear builtAmount in serviceFleet numbersDepot
DKZ33CRRC Changchun Railway Vehicles2011, 20193709 001–09 037Guogongzhuang