Olympic Transport

Update: Just found this page on the Official 2008 Olympic site, it includes a link to a PDF containing information about all the subway lines and new Olympic bus lines in English. Unfortunately, the subway times appear to be the regular hours and not the extended hours which are in place for the Olympics.

One thing we have the Olympics to thank for is its part in hastening the development of the city's public transportation system. In the past month alone, three new train lines have opened. Not just this, but the Games have been graced with an extensive network of bus routes of their own to ensure a speedy commute between venues. To find out exactly which routes take you where, check out this great site (you'll have to view it in IE to get the map to display properly) which features a map of all the routes in both pinyin and Chinese. You can also find a map of the routes in the back of the official Olympic spectator guide which you can download here. There's also the two new sightseeing bus lines. All subway cars on line 2 will be air-conditioned. Buses and trains will also be running later than usual I can't find a link - can only find a link in Chinese - but we know from personal experience that line 1 closes at about 1.30am - for details of a line near you call the helpful subway information line (English language service available) on 6834 5678. Also, if you have an Olympic ticket, you can ride for free on the day of the event.

There's also a new train line to Yanqing and Badaling, the high-speed train which can get you to Tianjin in 30 minutes and two new BRT.

Links and Sources
Beijingology: Beijing Subway
Explore Beijing: Subway
Image of train to Tianjin - www.boston.com/bigpicture/2008/07/beijing_2008_preparations_thre.html
China Daily: image of buses