Beijing subway to use facial recognition for security checks

The Beijing subway, which sees approximately 12.3 million passengers every weekday, will use facial recognition technology for passenger security checks to improve safety and transport efficiency, a senior official from the Beijing Transport Authority has announced.

Zhan Minghui, Director of Beijing Rail Traffic Control Center, said that the new security check system will divide passengers into groups in order to better understand and manage passenger flow of the Beijing subway system.

Databases will be implemented, including one related to identifying prohibited items, which aim to assist subway security screening staff in implementing safety policies and prioritising security checks.

As passengers enter a station, the facial recognition technology can recognise them and cross-check their profile through cameras which are connected to the online databases.

If the checks come back with abnormal feedback from the facial recognition scan, further security measures would be adopted, Zhan said.

Xie Zhengguang, General Manager of the Beijing Subway Operation Co, explained how each subway line needs to further improve transport efficiency because some station platforms are small and cramped which makes transferring difficult. “It is important to shorten the stopping period of subway trains to reduce heavy passenger flow,” he said.