Beijing Olympics 2008

Drills to prepare for fires, explosions and mass incidents at large train stations in Olympic host cities and areas most at risk from terrorism will be carried out this year, the Ministry of Railways said last week.
Exercises to prepare for chaotic situations, such as a breakdown of the ticket sales system, train dispatch system or capital management system, are also planned, spokesman Wang Yongping said.
In addition, five projects to improve railway safety and management will get under way this year, he said. The projects are an inspection system for the new 300-kmh passenger railway between Beijing and Tianjin, a gale warning system to protect against trains being blown off their tracks, a video surveillance system, a railway information sharing platform, and an emergency response training base.
“The projects will enhance the railway department’s capabilities to handle extreme weather events, such as blizzards, typhoons and floods,” Wang said.
The increased attention on emergency-handling measures comes after a crisis in January in which blizzards paralyzed many railways, highways and airlines in southern China.
The public laid much of the blame for the subsequent chaos at the doors of government transportation departments, saying they were unprepared. It was particularly critical of the Ministry of Railways.
Guo Xiling, vice-chairman of the Guangzhou committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, was also critical of the ministry.
Many electric trains were unable to run when power lines snapped under the weight of snow, stranding thousands of passengers either on trains or at stations.
While deadlines for the completion of four of the new projects have yet to be set, the establishment of the information-exchange platform for use by the ministry, railway bureaus and train stations will be completed by the end of the year, Wang said.
“The ministry will organize inspection teams in the fourth quarter to ensure all is going to plan,” he said.

from: chinadaily.com.cn

Beijing’s motor vehicle total will reach 3.35 million in August, when the Olympics will be staged, according to sources with the Municipal government Thursday.
With a daily growth of 1,300 vehicles, the city is faced with increasing problems of congestion and pollution. Up to Tuesday, the city has seen a total of 3.23 million vehicles.
More than two million of the vehicles are cars, according to the Beijing Municipal Traffic Management Bureau.
The traffic ban will be imposed during the Olympic Games, with the vehicle owners affected compensated by the government, said an official with the municipal government. The government official said that the plan was being drafted and the amount of compensation has not yet been decided.
Automobiles, excluding taxis, buses and emergency vehicles, are to stay off the roads every other day in accordance with the even and odd numbers on the license plates. Half of the many government vehicles in the city will also be off the road at any one time, but it is not known how many vehicles will affect.
The ban is aimed to ensure better air quality during the sport events in Beijing.
Beijing tested a traffic ban from August 17 to 20 last year, removing 1.3 million or one third of automobiles from its streets, which, according to an earlier report, reduced exhaust emissions by 40 percent each day.
The air quality seemed improved during the four-day trial, with the pollution index standing between 93 and 95, down from 116 on the day prior to the test. A level of 116 would be misty, with visibility significantly impaired.
Several Chinese cities, including Beijing, Guangzhou and Shanghai have considered congestion fees in recent years.
East China’s Jiangsu province capital Nanjing city is considering the concept of leving a fee on vehicles entering the city center during peak times.
There are no plans to introduce congestion charging in Beijing in time for the Olympics.

from: chinadaily.com.cn 

Beijing will buy 2,800 buses to expand the city’s reserve and replace outdated buses in preparation for the Olympic Games, according to Liu Xiaoming, director of the Beijing Municipal Transport Commission.
In addition, the city’s transportation department will open 34 bus routes to the Olympic venues, he told the Beijing Daily.
Liu also promised to make at least 19 night bus routes available during the Olympic Games, including the seven routes already in service. Most of Beijing’s bus routes stop operating between 23:00 and 5:00 at present.
In recent years, Beijing has spent big money to improve transport infrastructure and prioritize public transportation. Since 2007 bus travelers have benefitted from a low-cost, pre-paid bus card system. As of now, more than 16 million cards have been sold, and a daily average of 10 million commuters is registered.

from: beijing2008.cn 

For the first time in the history of Beijing’s subway system, 24-hour subway service will be offered during the opening and closing days of the Beijing Olympic Games, subway corporation sources said.

The subway is expected to account for the bulk of passenger transportation on the Olympic opening day on August 8, 2008, when some 100,000 people are expected to attend the opening ceremony at the main stadium of the “Bird’s Nest,” which has a capacity of about 90,000. In addition, over 10,000 artists, security officers and other personnel will also need to evacuate the venue after the ceremony is over.

To ensure the timely exit of spectators, the subway will enter a “peak operation time” 30 minutes ahead of the windup of the opening and closing ceremonies, with a minimum interval of three minutes, sources were quoted by Xinhua as saying.

According to the Beijing Daily, the subway will extend its operating hours during the Olympic Games from August 8 to 24, and a “green passage” will be opened at subway stations for Olympic ticket-holding spectators, Games organizers and volunteers, who will be exempted from paying the two-yuan subway fee.

from: beijing2008.cn

The civil aviation authority said on Thursday that stricter security checks would soon be implemented to guarantee passenger safety.
The announcement came in the wake of a foiled terrorist attempt on a Beijing-bound passenger plane last Friday.
The General Administration of Civil Aviation of China (CAAC) said in a new release that the new measures include increasing hand luggage inspections and body checks, as well as ending express check-in services currently enjoyed by frequent flyers.
The CAAC is also drafting more rules to ban carry-on liquid items on domestic flights after at least two liquid-filled cans smelling of alcohol were found in the foiled plot.
For passengers on international and regional flights, security check rules will remain unchanged, the authority said.
At present, according to rules adopted last May, all liquids carried in hand luggage on international flights must be held in containers with a capacity of no more than 100 milliliters.
The containers should be placed in a transparent, resealable bag with a maximum capacity of 1 liter.
Each passenger will be allowed to carry just one bag.
Exemptions will be made for baby milk and baby food in the baby’s presence as well as medications with prescriptions.
Although domestic flyers have previously been subject to more lax security checks, stricter security checks than those before international flights are likely to be introduced in the not-to-distant future.
The CAAC declined to reveal any details of the new rules yesterday, but the Shanghai-based Oriental Morning Post reported that all bags containing liquids of any description, even those containing baby milk, would all have to be checked in.
The report suggested that parents would have to request formula when buying tickets, and flight attendants would in turn provide it.
Some local airports confirmed they had already tightened security before the CAAC news release.
Gao Zhengpu, an official with Shanghai Airport Authority, said that the two airports in the city had both tightened their security check.
“Security staff open up and smell every bottled liquid in carry-on bags,” he was quoted as saying by Oriental Morning Post.
According to Gao, greater security checks have slowed passenger flow.
Every 10 minutes, no more than 15 are checked through, as opposed to 30 every 10 minutes previously.
Zhu Kelin, an official with the East China branch of the CAAC, told China Daily that the administration would soon issue detailed implementation measures.

from: http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/olympics/2008-03/14/content_6535178.htm