It is remarkable that this bullet train can drive itself. But halfway through the 56-minute ride, it passes another engineering marvel: the Badaling Great Wall Station.
Completed in 2019, the station is a stone’s throw from the entrance to Badaling, the most popular part of the ancient wall. To protect the iconic landmark from structural damage, the railway and associated station were built deep underground.
Preserving the Great Wall
The Badaling Great Wall Station is the world’s deepest high-speed rail station.
Ren Chao/Xinhua/Getty Images
Buried 102 meters (335 feet) underground and occupying an area of more than 36,000 square meters, the three-story structure is said to be the world’s deepest and largest underground high-speed train station.
According to Chinese state media, engineers used an electronic detonator to time the explosives to the millisecond. It was the first time the technology had been used in China and workers were able to maintain a vibration speed of less than 0.2 centimeters per second.
That means each explosion was accurately calculated to ensure the impact wouldn’t be stronger than a single footstep on the Great Wall.
Care was taken that construction would not damage the Great Wall.
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As of 2016, the construction of the tunnel and the station took about three years.
The high-speed rail cuts the journey from the Chinese capital to Badaling’s Great Wall from about 1.5 hours – traffic congestion can make that time much longer – to about 27 minutes.
The station is a few minutes away from the Great Wall funicular station and about 800 meters (0.5 miles) from the Badaling Great Wall starting point. It is also home to China’s second longest escalator, which is 88 meters long and 42 meters high.
The Badaling Great Wall Station is part of the 108-mile high-speed Beijing-Zhangjiakou railway.
Zhang Chenlin/Xinhua/Getty Images
Due to the distance from the platform, the station gate will be closed to ticket holders 12 minutes before the departure of the last train, instead of the usual five minutes at other stations in China, to ensure passengers have enough time to make their way through the huge station.
Will the Great Wall make an appearance at the Winter Olympics?
While there will be no Olympic sporting events near the Badaling Great Wall, it will be part of the torch relay, which will take place from February 2-4.
As a result, the station, as well as the Badaling section of the wall, will be closed on February 2 and 3.
Badaling Station is 800 meters from the public entrance of the Great Wall.
Ju Huanzong/Xinhua/Getty Images
Badaling isn’t the only section of the Great Wall to appear on TV screens as part of the Winter Olympics ceremonies.
Chongli District and Yanqing District, two areas hosting Winter Olympics, are also home to parts of the old barricade.
The high-speed train of the Winter Olympics
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The 108-mile Beijing-Zhangjiakou railway is served by a new high-speed multi-unit train (EMU) developed and operated by the state-owned China State Railway Group.
Unveiled in early January, it can run up to 350 kilometers (or 217 miles) per hour and cut travel time between two of the major Olympic host cities from three hours to 56 minutes.
Although the high-speed train is autonomous, there is always a controlling driver on board. The train can automatically start, stop and adapt to the different speed limits between stations.
The new Beijing-Zhangjiakou high-speed train will run along the Juyongguan section of the Great Wall on January 25, 2022.
Jia Tianyong/China News Service/Getty Images
Special carriages were designed with the needs of athletes in mind. For example, some cabins have larger storage areas for winter sports equipment, which can be accessed via a QR code.
In addition to the main railway, there are also two branches, Yanqing and Chongli, which connect authorized passengers to two important Winter Olympic Villages.
Top image: An escalator in the Badaling Railway station. Credit: Peng Ziyang/Xinhua/AlamYes