The full operation of Chinese capital Beijing's 40-km light rail system has been postponed from the year end to late January next year, the Beijing Star Daily reported Tuesday.

The report quoted sources with the contractor as saying that the postponement was personally decided by Beijing Mayor Liu Qi during his visit Monday to the construction site of Dongzhimen light rail station.

Under the original plan, the light rail train will not stop at the Dongzhimen station when the system opens at the year end, because the Dongzhimen traffic complex, of which the light rail station is a part, could not be completed then.

The postponement will allow the complex to be completed when the light rail system opens, making travel easier and more convenient for passengers, the report said.

The west line of the light rail system, stretching about 20 kilometers from Xizhimen in central Beijing to Huilongguan, a new residential area in the north, will, however, go into trial operation by late September as scheduled, the report said.

The east line of the light rail runs from Huilongguan to Dongzhimen in east Beijing.

The construction of the light rail system, which was kicked offin September 2000, will cost about six billion yuan (723 million US dollars). It is an important component part of Beijing's infrastructure preparations for the 2008 Olympic Games.

According to city planners, Beijing is expected to build approximately 150 km of new subway and light rail systems in the next six years, increasing the total length to more than 200 km.

( People's Daily July 30, 2002)