The Beijing subway saw a record popularity last year, taking over 600 million passengers, a Beijing based newspaper reports.

The most popular single day for the capital's subway was October 1, the first day of the National Day holiday, when it ferried 2.3 million people to their destinations.

There are four subway lines in Beijing covering a total length of 114 kilometers. They are Line 1, the Loop Line, Line 13 and the newly constructed line from Sihui to the eastern suburb of Tongzhou County.

It is predicted that by 2008 Olympics, there will be 7 subway lines operating in Beijing.

(CRIENGLISH.com January 5, 2005)