Three new subway lines to open before Sunday

The wait is almost over, according to reports in yesterday's Beijing dailies, all three of the new subway lines (phase one of line 10, the Olympic line and the Airport Express or ABC) will open before July 20 - the day on which the city's odd-even car restrictions, as well as a series of other major security and air quality provisions, come into effect. The reports quote an unnamed official from Beijing's transportation bureau as saying that all three of the new lines will open simultaneously, some time before July 20. In fact, all three of the lines and most of the stations have been ready for a long time and regular test runs have been taking place along all three lines. We realizes that the opening wouldn't be too far off after Chinese president Hu Jintao took a ride on the Airport Express line two weeks ago and the conclusion of the price hearing into the price of the ABC (a majrity of those attending recommended RMB 25 - but it seems that no official announcement of the ticket price has yet been made), also indicated that the opening couldn't be too far off.

Links and Sources
People's Daily: Three new subway lines to open in Beijing before July 20
Beijing2008.cn: Three new subway lines in Beijing inaugurated
The Beijing News: 10号线等3条新地铁本周内开通
the Beijinger: Looking Ahead to Line 10
The Beijinger Forum: Map/Plan Map of BJ Subway(Latest and Most Accurate)
Star Daily Photo Gallery of Olympic Line and Airport Express Line