BEIJING — Self-driving trains for the subway line connecting downtown Beijing with its new international airport started trial run on June 15, according to local authorities.

Stretching 41.4 kilometers, the new line supports autopilot system and can run at a speed of 160 km per hour, with as many as 448 passengers, according to Beijing Major Projects Construction Headquarters Office.

It runs through Daxing and Fengtai, two districts in the southern part of Beijing, and will take only 19 minutes to get from the Caoqiao station in Beijing’s south third ring road to the new airport after it starts operation by the end of September.

The line is part of an integrated transport network that will combine subways, expressways, intercity rail and high-speed rail with the airport at the center.

Beijing Daxing International Airport, located 46 kilometers south of downtown Beijing, is designed to take pressure off overcrowded Beijing Capital International Airport in the northeastern suburbs. It sits at the junction of Beijing’s Daxing district and Langfang, a city in neighboring Hebei province.

A train runs on a new airport subway line for trial in Beijing, capital of China, June 15, 2019. [Photo/Xinhua]

A train runs on a new airport subway line for trial in Beijing, capital of China, June 15, 2019. [Photo/Xinhua]

A journalist visits a train of the new airport subway line in Beijing, capital of China, June 15, 2019. [Photo/Xinhua]

A train runs on a new airport subway line for trial in Beijing, capital of China, June 15, 2019. [Photo/Xinhua]

Photo taken on June 15, 2019 shows the inside view of a train of the new airport subway line in Beijing, capital of China. [Photo/Xinhua]

Photo taken on June 15, 2019 shows a station of a new airport subway line at Beijing Daxing International Airport in Beijing, capital of China. [Photo/Xinhua]