Talking Transit: Convenience Stores and Shorter Lines Coming to a Subway Station Near You

Talking Travel: Your semi-regular roundup of Beijing's latest transportation-related news.

Subway stations will finally have convenience stores

World travelers will have noted a major difference between the subway systems of China and other metro systems in Asia – aside from a few lackluster vending machines, Chinese subway stations tend to suffer from a complete absence of shopping. At long last, the capital is aiming to change that as it promises to add convenience stores in at least a few stations around Beijing.

The details – Which stations will be lucky enough to land the stores? When will they open? – are still hazy, except that you can expect to see them popping up sometime this year as part of a new effort to revitalize the city’s subway system with the aim of transforming it from a place of pure hustle-bustle into a pedestrian paradise of consumerism. To that end, the city also plans to build 71 “micro-centers” around certain stations that will connect the stations to areas of commerce and business. (Again, the details are – you guessed it – hazy.)

Officials say they are looking toward the Tokyo system as a model for this revamp, though if we’re being honest, we don’t expect these convenience stores to look anything like a Japanese 7-Eleven. Likewise, one glaring issue stands out: They may be opening convenience stores at subway stations, however, it's still very much considered "uncivilized behavior" to eat and drink on the trains themselves. Curious...

Shorter lines at subway security may be on their way

In the ongoing saga of China’s social credit system, commuters with good social credit may soon be able to bypass the security check before boarding the subway as long as they are not carrying large bags. The city is expected to roll out the plan on a trial basis in the coming weeks.

Of course, foreigners may not be eligible to bypass the check as the social credit system is currently limited to Chinese citizens, but the system could affect all riders by generally shrinking the lines.

Additionally, transit authorities are hashing out plans to further integrate the subway system with the city’s railway stations. On the agenda are efforts to integrate subway and railway ticketing systems and to develop mutual recognition of security checks, meaning that taking the subway to and from the train station could go a lot smoother in the future.

READ: Train Hopping in Southern China: A Guide to Exploring Sichuan’s Sights by Rail

Image: Mentalfloss, Beijing Daily