Beijing buses, subways enhance disinfection as work resumes

People wait to get on a bus in Beijing, capital of China, Feb. 3, 2020. (Xinhua/Ren Chao)

Beijing buses, subways have increased departure frequency to avoid congestion in carriages, while disinfecting vehicles more strictly.

BEIJING, Feb. 10 (Xinhua) -- Beijing subway and bus operators on Monday said they would increase departure frequency of buses and subway trains, limit passenger number during rush hours and enhance disinfection to curb the novel coronavirus pneumonia outbreak.

The latest moves by Beijing Subway, Beijing MTR Corporation, and Beijing Public Transport came as the city of over 20 million people anticipated increased passenger flows on Monday as companies and businesses resume work.

In response, Beijing Public Transport, which operates the city's bus fleets, has opened special transit lines near railway stations and increased departure frequency of buses with high ridership to avoid crowding.

The bus company has also assigned staff to disinfect 22,716 buses, taxis and tramcars every day.

From Jan. 24 to Feb. 8, buses in Beijing carried an average of 1.55 million passengers per day, down 70.8 percent year on year.

Subway operators also said they would add temporary trains and impose passenger number controls at stations to limit passenger density in trains.

Beijing has been conducting daily disinfection and body temperature checks of passengers in 23 subways lines covering 405 stations.