Workers adjust facilities inside a car on Beijing's No. 5 subway line. The line runs through the heart of the city and is to start carrying passengers in September.(Xinhua Photo) Photo Gallery>>>

¡¡BEIJING, April 29 (Xinhua) -- Beijing's No. 5 subway line, which runs through the heart of the city and is set to start carrying passengers in September, will provide live broadcasts of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.

    Ding Shukui, deputy manager of the city's rail traffic company, said on Sunday that construction of the subway tunnel has been completed and workers are busy building the last station.

    "Trial operations begin on June 30," he said.

    The 27.6-km-long north-to-south line runs through the eastern part of the downtown area. It starts at Taipingzhuang, north of the north fourth ring road, traveling underground through the center of the city to Songjiazhuang near the south fourth ring road. It has 22 stops.

    It meets with the city's east-west subway or Line 1 at Dong Dan, one stop east of Wangfujing. It also links the loop line at Yong He Gong in the north and Chong Wen Men in the south. Passengers online 5 can also connect to line 13, north Beijing's light rail line, at Li Shui Qiao.

    Construction began in late 2002, and cost 12 billion yuan ( about 1.55 billion U.S. dollars).

    The subway runs under Ditan Park where Chinese emperors used to worship the "God of Earth".

    Equipped with a wireless communication network, live broadcasts will be provided on televisions installed on each subway car. Passengers will never lose a connection on their mobile phones, said Ding.

    The subway cars on line No. 5 are more comfortable as they are wider and taller. A six-car train is designed to reach speeds of 80 km per hour and a monitoring system will ensure they are the safest.

    Beijing currently has 95 km of mass transit rail lines in operation, of which 54.15 kilometers run underground.

    Another 100 km of mass transit lines, consisting of eight different routes, will begin operation before 2008. Total investment in the projects is 63.8 billion yuan (about 8.3 billion U.S. dollars).

    According to the Beijing Subway Operation Co. Ltd., the 32.9-kmsubway Line 10 and the 28.10-km Airport Extension, stretching from downtown Dongzhimen to the two terminals (T2 and T3) of Beijing Capital International Airport, will open to traffic on June 30, 2008.

    The municipal government also plans to introduce 264 new carriages on the two existing subway lines later this year as it moves to modernize the capital's rapid transit system before the Beijing Olympic Games.

    By 2008, there will be nine lines totaling 200 km, and by 2020 the city government plans to have 19 subway lines in operation, totaling 561.5 kilometers, which could make it the largest underground rail system in the world, according to Beijing's city planning authorities.

    The urban planners say completion of the No. 5 subway line will greatly ease north-south traffic congestion.