Line 3 (Beijing Subway)

Phase I of Line 3 is 15.6 km (9.7 mi) with 10 stations. It is fully underground. Due to unstable planning east of Dongbabei station, line 3 will only open between Dongsi Shitiao and Dongbabei. It will be opened by the end of 2024.[3]

Scale model of Line 3 train

Line 3 will initially use 4-car Type A rolling stock but platforms are designed to support expansion to 8-car trains.[2]

Line 3's route has undergone substantial changes on the planners' drawing board. In the late 1990s, one draft of the subway plan showed Line 3 running from Xiaomeichang to Cuigezhuang. Half of that route was then folded into Line 6.[6][7] In 2010 and 2011, Line 3 was mentioned in the development plans of other subway lines.[8]

By January 2012, the Line 3's western section was slated to run east from Tiancun station in Haidian District under Fushi Road to Fuchengmen station.[9] On March 15, 2012, Line 3 was reportedly planned to run from Tiancun station to the eastern suburbs of Beijing in Gaoxinzhuang and Pingfang and to be built by 2020.[10]

In June 2012, Beijing media reported the station plan of Line 3.[11]

In January 2013, subway planners were examining whether to extend the Line 3 through the city centre given the concentration of historic relics in the area.[12][13] In January 2014, it was reported that Line 3 will have 27 stations, with up to 16 transfer stations, including Ganjiakou station on Line 16 and Zhangzizhonglu on Line 5.[14] The station plan for Ganjiakou had been released in 2013 by Beijing Municipal Commission of Urban Planning, which depicted the Line 3 platform built over that of Line 16.[15] In February 2014, an official was quoted as saying that "Line 3 would run along Di'anmen Street, not Jingshan Front Street, with paralleling from Ping'anli to Nanluoguxiang."[16][13] On April 19, 2016, the first phase of Line 3 started construction.[17]