BEIJING - The first section of a new subway line connected to the capital's busiest railway station will start trial operation at the end of this month, it was announced on Wednesday.

Beijing subway Line 9 will make a stop at Beijing West Railway Station. It is among nine stops on the planned new line, which will be opened this month. [Photo/Xinhua]

Trains will initially run between nine stations on Line 9, from Guogongzhuang in Fangshan district to Beijing West Railway Station, a total of 11.1 kilometers.

"The total commuting time will be 18 minutes, and the preset interval between trains is seven and a half minutes," said Zhang Wenqiang at the Beijing Municipal Transport Commission.

He did not give a date for when the section will open.

Line 9 will be the first to service Beijing West Railway Station, the capital's busiest rail terminal. It will also connect with Line 1 and 4.

"The line will see a lot of traffic ahead of the Spring Festival in January," said Jia Peng, the spokesman for operators Beijing Subway.

Another challenge lies in the fact that an overwhelming number of passengers at Beijing West Railway Station are migrant workers, who usually do not have electronic transport cards, he said, warning that this could mean long lines at ticket windows.

"We will assign more staff members to help them buy tickets," Jia added.

Passengers have long complained about the lack of links to the rail station.

Wu Shuxin, a student at Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, said she would not have missed her train last week if Line 9 was already in service.

"I took a bus and got stuck in traffic because of the snowy weather," she said. "When I got there, the train had already left."

The new subway line is also expected to alleviate traffic jams in western parts of the capital.

Taxi driver Liu Jianwen welcomed the news, saying that congestion in the west is now unbearable.

"In rush hour, it's usual to get stuck for 30 minutes on roads leading from Beijing West Railway Station to the south," he said.

To encourage use of Line 9, authorities said that a large parking lot with 500 spaces will be opened at Guogongzhuang station.

Construction of the subway line started in 2008 and has so far cost 6.75 billion yuan ($1.06 billion), according to official statistics. It is scheduled for completion next year.

Xing Yu contributed to this story.