China will build the world’s deepest and largest high-speed railway station at a popular section of the country’s Great Wall as part of its preparations for the 2022 Winter Olympics, state media has reported.
The station will be at Badaling, the most visited section of the Great Wall which lies about 80km (50 miles) north-west of Beijing. The site received 30,000 tourists in just one day during the Chinese New Year holiday week, according to the China National Tourism Administration.
“The Badaling station will be located 102m (335ft) below the surface, with an underground construction area of 36,000sqm (387,501sqft), equal to five standard soccer fields, making it the deepest and largest high-speed railway station in the world,” Chen Bin, director in charge of construction for China Railway No 5 engineering group, told the People’s Daily newspaper.
The station will sit along a railway network that will link Beijing with Zhangjiakou, the host city for the Winter Olympics.
Badaling station will sit in the mountains under the Great Wall, and will require the use of advanced explosion technologies to ensure that the Unesco world heritage site will not be affected, the railway group also said.
China has embarked on an ambitious programme of railway construction, which includes the world’s longest high-speed line between Beijing and Guangzhou.
The railways ministry plans to invest $400bn (£248bn) to complete a 10,000-mile network by 2020, with four main lines running east to west and four from north to south.
