Beijing's subway system has started a mobile reservation service at two of its busiest stations.

The trial service comes amid the COVID-19 epidemic and is aimed at encouraging staggered shifts and reducing passengers' waiting time during rush hour.

The city's subway authorities said there have been fewer passengers in the past month due to the coronavirus outbreak.

But now, things are changing as many people are returning to work, creating mounting pressure for epidemic control and prevention. And something needs to be done.

Today’s Story in the Story looks at the pilot reservation system designed to avoid the congregation of passengers during the coronavirus outbreak

(Photo: Xinhua)

Take Shahe, a major station in the city’s northwest for example, which has taken in some 5,000 passengers during its morning peak hours.

Though that number is only one-fourth of its usual passenger volume, it poses problems, such as exposing passengers to the risk of infection while waiting in line.

 "Usually, passengers have to wait outside the station for 10 to over 20 minutes. But if they reserve an arrival time online, they won't have to come so early. They can just show up at the agreed time," said Xian Kai, R&D deputy director of Beijing Transport Institute.

For many, making a reservation is simple. Just open up the subway app on your mobile phone, click on the desired arrival time, get a QR code, scan it, and you are all set!

"The service is good. It can effectively shorten the waiting time and avoid spending too much time in crowded places," a passenger said.

"I see no big difference now. Perhaps it's because there are not many passengers now. I think it'd truly work when everybody returned to work. With this, passengers can choose different commuting times so as to avoid peak hours," another said.

A staff member of Beijing Subway named Wang Peng said that other alternative approaches are also being put in place.

"Our station and control center staff will constantly monitor the increase of passenger flow. Our Changping line will not only increase its transportation capacity, it'd also have more temporary trains to help ease congestion," Wang said.

The trial service was also made available in another major station located in Tiantongyuan, a community in the city's northeast that reportedly houses over 700,000 people, and where the risk of infection still looms.

People waiting outside to enter the station. (Photo: CGTN)

2,000 reservations were made at the two stations but it's only the beginning. The subway authorities said they'd continue to gather feedback from the public so as to improve and provide better and safer transport services for their passengers.

From 6:30am to 9:30am on weekdays, passengers can book a 10-minute reservation slot on their smartphones to enter Tiantongyuan and Shahe stations, which were often overwhelmed with passengers during morning rush hours before the epidemic.

Those who do not make a reservation must wait in line before entering the stations.

At present, 16 subway lines in Beijing are operating at about 15 percent of normal passenger capacity, but pressure on the subway stations is mounting as more enterprises resume operations, according to Beijing Subway.

(Produced by Nancy Yan Xu, Brian Lowe, Lance Crayon and Da Hang. Music by: bensound.com. Text from CGTN, China Daily)