国内英语新闻: Beijing to open first driverless subway line

BEIJING, March 24 (Xinhua) -- Beijing will open its first driverless subway line this year, local authorities said Friday.

It will be the first domestically developed automated subway on the Chinese mainland, said a spokesperson for the Beijing Municipal Commission of Housing and Urban-Rural Development.

The 16.6-km Yanfang Line will serve the city's southwestern suburb of Fangshan.

Construction is expected to be completed in 2017 on two new rail lines, the city's first modern tram line and the first medium-low speed maglev line.

Currently Beijing has 19 lines covering 574 kilometers. A further 350 kilometers will be built this year.

According to the city's five-year plan on rail construction released on Friday, the total length of operational rails will exceed 900 km by 2020.

Up to 90 percent of the city proper will have at least one subway station within 750 meters, and rail access will reach all of the city's 16 urban and rural districts by 2020.

Driverless trains will be used on more planned lines, including an express line to the new airport being built in Daxing District.