Beijing's transportation is getting its act together

Though the Beijing Subway is the busiest on the Chinese mainland in terms of passenger volume, and the largest in terms of operational length, it still has some way to go, with 30 lines and some 450 stations earmarked for completion by 2020. Currently, the city's subway system is under considerable pressure, with serious overcrowding during rush hours. (The city's public transport system apparently carried a daily average of 20.6 million passengers during the past year.)

Though the transport planners are to be congratulated on the new extensions to the subway system, the phrase "to spoil the ship for a ha'pworth of tar" – the practice of spoiling something by trying to make small economies – readily comes to mind.

For instance, the new line 10 extension required new maps to be printed and installed. I wonder who was responsible for "Airpot Express" to be printed, only for a sticker saying "Airport Express" to then have to be stuck over the offending mistake. With some 45 stations, each with two platforms, each with some 20 maps all having to be corrected, such acts of unprofessionalism and carelessness must have cost time, money and effort.

Even worse is the design of the line 10 platform maps which are different depending on whether you are travelling clockwise or counter-clockwise. With so many stations, it is bad enough having to locate your chosen destination on the map, without then having to find it again in a different place on your return journey … not that either of these two maps bear any relation whatsoever to the maps inside the trains which are practically impossible to read unless one is immediately underneath them. 2/10 for effort in this regard I fear!

The new Line 6 also advises passengers at each platform door to keep away "when the gate skids" – a "Chinglish" notice that is bound to get foreign visitors to the capital reaching for their cameras; while another notice at Dongsi station – where the new Line 6 is located 34 meters underground – hasn't (yet) got its escalators working, forcing interchange passengers to walk up or down 120 steps. Here a notice advises passengers "Equipment debugging A moratorium on the use of".

Don't you think that an organization spending millions – perhaps billions – on a new facility might deign to fork out just a small handful of quai to get someone to check their translated notices?

But then, I guess, one of the charms of living in China is the touching faith that the Chinese have in using the likes of Google Translate when they create new signs, and the wonderful examples of Chinglish that are created as a result.