BEIJING – It looks like transportation around Beijing is about to get somewhat easier.  I have been realizing for a while that traffic is so bad now that it makes getting around by taxi completely undesirable.  I stopped by the Vietnamese Embassy today to pick up some visas and had to go from there to where Gongti meets Third Ring Road.  Rather than catch a taxi in traffic, I decided to walk.  It took 30 minutes, which is at least how long a taxi would’ve taken.

Things will get better though, specifically if you’re heading to the airport.  I like to make a point of not talking about clients of my PR firm on this blog, but this is a special case.  We held a media event on board the new Beijing Airport Link on Monday morning for foreign journalists from Canada.  It was the first time foreign journalists had a chance to ride the train, which isn’t slated to open for a few more weeks.

Obviously my comments here will be slightly tainted, considering I am involved in the project.  But that doesn’t diminish my genuine enthusiasm for it.  The new train will travel at speeds of 110 km/h and get people from Dongzhimen Station to the Airport in only 20 minutes.  The train is based on Skytrain technology from Vancouver.  Bombardier, the company that built the trains, currently has the line in the testing and commissioning phase but it will certainly open prior to the Olympic Games.

This isn’t the only good transportation news to hit Beijing.  According to Xinhua (story was emailed minus the link, my apologies), the new bullet train between Beijing and Tianjin has completed its testing phase, and will launch on August 1.

Trains ran at a maximum of 380 km per hour on Saturday, the fastest such service in the country, CCTV said.

The 115-km trip from the Beijing South Railway Station to the Tianjin Station took 27 minutes, including one-minute stops respectively at Yizhuang and Wuqing stations.

Travel between the two cities is currently affected by road congestion and slow rail service. At present, the train takes more than an hour to make the trip, and buses take two hours.

Previous media reports have said that express rail tickets would cost 60 yuan ($9.6) to 80 yuan, but the pricing was still awaiting regulatory approval.

The best part about this?  Trains will run every three minutes.  That’s along the lines of what we had hoped.

(As an aside, it’s interesting that the airport train will take 20 minutes to go from Dongzhimen to the Airport, which is about 25 kilometers, while the Tianjin express will take 7 minutes longer to go an extra 90 kilometers.)

Of all the cities I’ve visited, I’ve always felt Hong Kong has the best urban transportation system.  It’s simple, efficient, and reaches nearly all corners of the territory.  Beijing has a long way to go to reach that level, but it’s making progress. And that means I won’t have to walk quite as much.