Beijingnan (Beijing South) railway station () is a large railway station in Fengtai District, Beijing, about south of central Beijing, between the 2nd and 3rd ring roads. The station in its present form opened on 1 August 2008 and mainly serves high speed trains. The current station replaced the old Beijing South station, originally known as Majiapu railway station and later renamed Yongdingmen railway station, which stood 500 metres away. This station was in use from 1897 to 2006. The new Beijing South railway station is the city's largest station, and is one of the largest in Asia. It joins the main Beijing railway station and the Beijing West railway station as one of three main passenger rail hubs in the Chinese capital. It serves as the terminus for high-speed trains on the Beijing–Tianjin intercity railway and Beijing–Shanghai high-speed Railway which can reach speeds up to . CRH night sleepers to and from Shanghai also depart from this station. The station integrates two Beijing Subway line stations, bus hubs (including an airport shuttle bus), and taxi stands, into the same building, and includes a wide variety of restaurants in the station itself. Design and construction The terminus occupies a site in Fengtai. The enormous oval-shaped station was designed by the British architecture firm of TFP Farrells in collaboration with the Tianjin Design Institute. It was built from more than 60,000 tons of steel and of concrete by 4,000 workers in less than three years. The glass ceiling is outfitted with 3,246 solar panels to generate electricity. The structure spreads out like a ray or trilobite and covers , more than the Beijing National Stadium's . Its 24 platforms have the capacity to dispatch 30,000 passengers per hour or almost 241 million a year. The waiting area can accommodate 10,000 passengers. On the elevated departures concourse, there are designated waiting areas and VIP lounges (with better seating and, in the lounges, free food and snacks) for passengers travelling in CRH Business Class, and a number of restaurants and corner shops. There are also a number of ticket counters (where nationwide ticketing services are available) and an increasing number of retail stores and fast food stalls. Ticket machines are available to holders of the PRC ID card and sell tickets for trains departing from this station. 23 sets of ticket gates despatch passengers onto trains. The arrivals level is underground, with 8