A train, which travels along a five kilometre long sightseeing route, carries a group of visitors as they tour around the original compound of the Capital Iron and Steel Group in the Shijingshan District of Western Beijing on Sunday, May 17th, 2009. [Photo: Beijing Times]

A five kilometre-long train trip tour has recently been launched on the original site of the Capital Iron and Steel Group, in the Shijingshan District of Western Beijing.

The Beijing Times reported Tuesday that the sightseeing train route which opened last Sunday to its first group of visitors is on trial services at the moment and was designed to help visitors review the past glory of the iron and steel industry in the capital city.

The rail route is only one half of an original 10 kilometer long material delivery rail line within the compound of the former iron and steel corporation, which had been moved out of Beijing before last year's Olympic Games. The remaining part of the whole line will further be made available to visitors in 2010.

Currently, the travel route starts from the eastern gate of the former corporation and advances along its raw materials and molten iron delivery routes, enabling visitors to observe blast furnaces, iron-making and steel-making plants.

The Capital Iron and Steel Group has its new steel plant rebuilt in Caofeidian, a port city 220 kilometres east of the capital. The new base will completely replace the old facilities in Beijing by 2010, when it will become the country's largest steel production base.