The planning of the Tiancun Parking Lot on Line 12 has been approved. Is there hope for the southward extension?

The subway Line 12, known as the "underground North Third Ring Road", was opened for operation at the end of 2024, bringing great convenience to residents along the line.

However, there has been a strong call for the southward extension of the western end of Line 12. Our backend has also received many messages asking about the southward extension of Line 12.

In the past two days, good news has come from Line 12. The Beijing Municipal Planning and Natural Resources Commission announced that the comprehensive utilization project plan for the Tiancun Parking Lot of Line 12 has been officially approved. This project is the first in the city to be approved for support from the city - level special indicators since the implementation of the "Interim Measures for the Management of Special Indicator Allocation for Rail Integration in Beijing".

Today, let's talk about this parking lot project at the western end of Line 12.

1

The subway Line 12, which was opened at the end of 2024, traverses all the important transportation nodes on the North Third Ring Road. It is about 30 kilometers long, starting from the south of Sijiqing Bridge on the West Fourth Ring Road in the west and ending at Dongba North Station in Chaoyang District in the east. It is a major rail transit line running east - west along the North Third Ring Road.

In the approved plan, the Tiancun Parking Lot of Line 12 is located in the Sijiqing area of Haidian. It is adjacent to Hanhe Road in the west, Yongyin South Road in the east, Jingmen Railway in the south, and the planned branch road in the north. The total land area is about 43.7 hectares.

According to the plan, part of Line 12 will be implemented in the near future, covering about 15.37 hectares of land. Here is an explanation. In fact, according to the plan, the Tiancun Depot was originally shared by Line 3, Line 12, and Line 30. This time, the part of Line 12 will be built first.

Many fans may ask, since Line 12 has been in operation for more than a year and already has a depot, why build another parking lot?

Well, as mentioned earlier, Line 12 is known as the "underground North Third Ring Road". It spans a large distance from the Sijiqing area of Haidian on the West Fourth Ring Road to the Dongba area of Chaoyang outside the East Fifth Ring Road. Currently, there is only one Dongba Depot. If all the trains have to return to Dongba, it will result in more empty runs, high energy consumption, and slow turnover.

For example, many passengers along the line may have noticed and been troubled by a detail. The earliest train from Dongba West to Sijiqing Bridge on Line 12 departs at 5:00 every day, but the earliest train from Sijiqing Bridge Station to Dongba North departs at 5:52. This is because there is no parking lot at the western end of Line 12, and the trains have to run from Dongba to Sijiqing Bridge Station first to have the first return train.

The same principle applies to the last train. The last train at Dongba departs around 10:30 pm, while at Sijiqing Bridge, it departs at 23:18.

If the Tiancun Parking Lot is built and put into use, the first train from Sijiqing Bridge can depart earlier, and the last train at Dongba can also be later.

2

The next question is, does the approval of the Tiancun Parking Lot plan mean that the southward extension of Line 12 is promising?

From the perspective of the planning and preparation process, the plan for the Tiancun Parking Lot has no direct relationship with the southward extension of Line 12. The southward extension of the western end of Line 12 is not in the short - term plan, but planning research has indeed been carried out.

Previously, Beijing Infrastructure Investment Co., Ltd. also said in response to public inquiries that the issue of the southward extension of Line 12 is currently undergoing plan research work as required by the government planning department. The plan is not yet stable, and the specific plan is still under research. An implementation plan can only be formulated after the plan is finalized.

Since the planning scheme has not been finalized, it is currently impossible to draw a conclusion on whether there will be a relationship between the future Tiancun Parking Lot and the southward extension of Line 12. After all, there is already a precedent in Beijing for a subway line to be extended by one stop to the depot, that is, the Yizhuang Line was extended by one stop to the Taihu Depot.

Moreover, according to the approved planning scheme, the Tiancun Parking Lot is also close to Tiancun Station of Line 6.

3

As mentioned earlier, what was approved this time is the comprehensive utilization project plan for the Tiancun Parking Lot. So, this will definitely not be just a subway parking lot, but a comprehensive utilization, that is, the development above the subway.

According to the plan, the current surrounding area of this region is mainly composed of residential areas, commercial areas, and green spaces. However, the public service facilities are scattered, and the service coverage is insufficient, making it difficult to meet the actual needs of the public for nearby fitness and participation in high - quality sports.

The plan shows that a comprehensive sports stadium integrating competitive fitness and leisure sports will be built here. In the specific construction, the track facilities below and the sports stadium above will be designed and constructed in an integrated and coordinated manner.

The transportation in this area will also be optimized. Since it is close to Tiancun Station of Line 6, efficient connectivity between the stadium, the community, and the rail transit station will be achieved. Two pedestrian over - cover transportation cores will be set up on the west and south sides, and a pedestrian transportation core across the Jingmen Railway will be set up on the east side. Currently, Hanhe Road on the west side has been completed and opened to traffic. Yongyin South Road on the east side and Xijiao Grain Depot North Street on the south side have both been included in the near - term construction plan and are expected to be completed and put into use simultaneously with the project.

This article is from the WeChat official account "Beijing Housing News", author: Beijing Housing News. It is published by 36Kr with permission.