Intercity commute centered around Beijing's new airport further improves

Intercity commute in north China's Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei urban agglomeration saw a major upgrade Saturday with two high-speed rail lines connected to Beijing's Daxing International Airport starting operation.

The two lines, one starting from Hebei's Langfang and the other from Gu'an, make travel to the Daxing Airport more convenient for residents in the urban clusters, and further solidifies the relatively new airport's status as a regional transportation hub.

"In the initial stage of operation, up to eight trains will be scheduled every day, all of which are crossrail trains. So travel between the Langfang North Station and the Daxing Airport Station can be reached in 15 minutes at the fastest," said Guo Liuming, China Railway Beijing Group's deputy director of passenger transport department.

The newly-opened railway sections further boosted the connectivity of the region's intercity high-speed rail network. In the meantime, travelers landing at the Daxing Airport will have an even smoother connecting experience. They can get to the Beijing Capital International Airport for a connecting flight by taking the subway or catching an intercity high-speed train.

"In order to strengthen information sharing between the intercity railway Daxing Airport Station and the Daxing Airport, we display real-time train information in front of the terminal. In the future, the Daxing Airport and the railway department will continue to strengthen cooperation and information sharing, to improve the matching of trains and flights in terms of capacity and schedule," said Jiao Yongjie, public area manager of the Beijing Daxing International Airport.

"The density of the railway network in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region continues to increase, forming a high-speed railway network with Beijing and Tianjin as the core hubs, covering all prefecture-level cities in Hebei Province. The operating mileage of high-speed railways in the region has reached 2,669 kilometers. One-hour commute in the capital metropolitan area and the two-hour transportation circle among major cities in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region has basically been formed," said Hou Libo, senior economist of the planning and statistics department of China Railway Beijing Group.

Thailand's caretaker Prime Minister and Bhumjaithai Party leader Anutin Charnvirakul announced on Sunday that the Bhumjaithai Party had won Thailand's House of Representatives election.

With more than 87 percent of ballots counted by the country's Election Commission, the Bhumjaithai Party was leading the vote, followed by the People's Party and the Pheu Thai Party in third.

Speaking earlier, People's Party leader Natthaphong Ruengpanyawut said his party accepted the results so far and was prepared to serve as the opposition if Bhumjaithai succeeds in forming a government.

About 50 million eligible voters cast ballots on Sunday to elect all 500 members of the lower house. A simple majority of 251 seats is required to elect a prime minister and form a new government.