BEIJING - The roads in Beijing became less congested but the subways reported a little chaos with signal failures and suspension caused by a woman's probable suicide attempt on Monday, the first working day since the city imposed controls to halve the number of cars on the roads for the Olympic Games.
A combo picture shows vehicles travel on the Beijing East 4th Ring Road during rush hour on July 18, 2008 (bottom) and July 20. [Asianewsphoto]
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The city's No. 1 subway line was forced to suspend for 19 minutes after a woman jumped from a platform onto the tracks at about 4:35 p.m. before the afternoon rush hour.
She was pulled from the tracks, but it was not immediately known why she jumped, a Beijing Mass Transit Railway Operation Co. Ltd. (BMTRO) spokesman said.
Subway Line 2, another heavily used line, reported a failure at around 8:20 a.m. during the morning travel peak when trains were halted in the tunnel for more than 10 minutes.
Some entrances to the major Jianguomen transfer station were closed.
A subway official denied a Reuters report that quoted a subway worker at the Fuxingmen station as saying the line was closed for "safety reasons" as "there is a big crush of passengers."
"This was due to the glitches in the subway signal system," said Jia Peng, an official with the BMTRO.
"Services were delayed, but not because there were too many passengers. We've seen even more passengers in the past," Jia said.
Make way for the Games
About two million vehicles are forced off the roads in a scheme that allows private vehicles to be used on alternate days, according to whether their license plates correspond to the odd or even numbered days of the month. The rules, effective from July 20 to September 20, are intended to free up traffic and cut emissions in the city of 3.29 million vehicles.
The restrictions, however, are expected to force an extra 4 million people on to public transport such as buses and subways every day, said the city government.
Some people said a sharp increase in the subway passenger flow had brought inconveniences.
"The subway is much more crowded than it was," said Zhao Xiaohua, a local commuter.
"I could not unfold the newspaper as I normally do in the train," he said.
