Swaying at the back of a subway train on Beijing’s Line 9, two China Post personnel in yellow and blue overalls hold on to a green trolley full of parcels. A few passengers are seated in front of them in the nearly empty carriage, playing on their mobile phones.
The journey was taken on 23 September, day one of a pilot trialling express delivery via the city’s rail transit system. On its WeChat account, the Beijing Municipal Commission of Transport (MCT) described the scheme as the first in China to use off-peak capacity on the underground network for package couriering. It expects the project will help reduce the number of delivery vans on the road, ease traffic congestion and lower carbon emissions.
Staggered journeys
In September 2019, the CCP Central Committee and the State Council published a plan for turning China into a “transportation powerhouse” that included reference to “actively developing subway logistics in cities”. Then, eight months ago, the use of the subway for logistics was noted in the MCT’s 2023 transportation work plan. Line 4 and the Line 9 Fangshan–Yanfang route, both in the west of Beijing, were selected for the first pilot.