Writing takes subway cop on a new journey

Insightful posts about his daily life and activities have garnered an appreciative audience online. Cao Yin reports.

When Ma Tuo graduated from the criminal investigation faculty of the Beijing Police College 13 years ago, he wanted to be like Sherlock Holmes, solving murders and fighting violent crime.

However, to his great disappointment, the Beijing Public Security Bureau assigned him to its traffic management department and he became a police officer on the capital's subway system.

The day he was told he had to work on Subway Line 13, he locked himself at home and lay on the bed. He was depressed when he thought about the serial killings, robberies and kidnappings — all the things he had dreamed of at police school — that he would never tackle.

The next day, the Beijing native reluctantly made his way to the Xi'erqi Subway Station to start his new life underground.

Huilongguan Police Station, Ma's base, is mainly responsible for ensuring safety and solving problems in stations on the western section of Line 13, including Xi'erqi, Longze, Qinghe and Xizhimen.

Subway officers have to schedule their work to fit the line's timetable, so they have to arrive early and stay late every day.

In Beijing, where traffic is heavy and the underground rail network is complicated, Line 13 is a "lifeline" linking residential compounds in the north with the downtown.

Data released in February by the Beijing Municipal Commission of Transport show that there were 27 subway lines in the capital by the end of last year, with tracks stretching 807 kilometers. So far this year, the number of daily passenger trips has topped 12 million.

For Ma, these figures not only mean constantly renovated station halls and upgraded security equipment, but also a rush of commuters.

Sometimes, he wades into the crowd to stop quarrels among passengers or chases leaflet distributors on the trains, while at other times he ensures safety by stopping peddlers from blocking entrances or exits, and even prevents people from boarding trains if they have had too much to drink.

"It can be annoying to deal with such trivial things stop by stop, day after day," the 36-year-old said as he patrolled Qinghe Station on July 4.

"After working for more than six months, I was worried that my life would be like this, train after train, forever. That no matter what happened, I would always be stuck on the subway."