Line 6 has been referred to as the ‘Time Tunnel’ line as it is said to connect the past, present and future by passing more historic sites than any other line. The China Mural Art Committee of the China Artists Association was responsible for 22 murals along the line that won the Silver Medal of the 12th National Art Exhibition and the Grand Prize of the 3rd National Mural Exhibition.
Line 6 is the second longest subway line in Beijing (after Line 10 ), and a complete journey from end to end takes about an hour and 25 minutes. It was designed to be the fastest in the subway system, with trains capable of reaching a speed of 100 km/h compared to 80 km/h on other lines. This was due to the fact that – especially in the out-of-town areas – the spacing between stations is greater, the furthest being 4 km apart.
Originally it had been planned to run some express trains on line 6. During rush hours, express trains would overtake normal trains on a two-train line in the same station and just stop in some of the larger stations so that people could reach their destinations faster. This idea, however, was finally scrapped and Line 6 now has some of the biggest passenger loads on the network.
The line uses 1500 V overhead powering as opposed to the 750 V third rail used on earlier lines.
Phase I of Line 6 opened on December 30, 2012 (except for Erligou, which will open when the construction of Line 16 is finished. The platform for Line 16 will be built above the Line 6 platform.). Two years later, the Phase II stations opened in the east (except for Tongyunmen and Beiyunhe East). And on December 30, 2018, Phase III (except for Pingguoyuan) was opened in the west. An infill station on Phase II, Beiyunhe East station, was also opened at that time.
The following stations on Line 6 have artwork...
Lucheng
Dongxiayuan
Haojiafu
BeiyunheXi
Wuzixueyuanlu
Changying
Qingnianlu
Shilipu
Jintailu
Hujialou
Dongdaqiao
Chaoyangmen
Dongsi
Nanluoguxiang
Beihai Bei
Pinganli
Chegongzhuang
Chegongzhuangxi
Baishiqiao Nan
Huayuanqiao
Cishousi
Haidian wuluju
Tian Cun
Liaogong zhuang
Xihuang cun
Yang Zhuang
Jinan Qiao