All Beijing Subway trains run on 1,435mm standard gauge rail and draw power from the 750 V DC third rail, except those on Lines 6 and 14, which use 1,500 V DC overhead wires.^[1] Lines 6, 15, Fangshan, and Changping have a designed maximum service speed of 100 km/h (62 mph).^[2] The Airport Line is linear motor driven with a designed maximum service speed of 110 km/h (68 mph)^[3][4] All other Lines have a maximum service speed of 80 km/h (50 mph). Currently Lines 1, 2, 4, 5, 8, 9, 10, 13, 15, Batong, Daxing, Changping, Fangshan, and Yizhuang use 6 car B size trains. Initially, Lines Batong and 13 was originally used 4 car trains and now expanded into six.^[5][6][7]

From the subway's inception to 2003, all Beijing subway trains were manufactured by the Changchun Railway Vehicles Company Ltd., now a subsidiary of the China CNR Corporation. All rolling stock on Lines 2, 5, 6,^[8] 9, 10, 13, 15, Yizhuang, Airport and some of Line 1 and 14 stocks^[3][9][10] are produced by CNR.^[11] However, Qingdao Sifang Locomotive & Rolling Stock Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of China South Locomotive and Rolling Stock Corp. has recently produced rolling stock for the Beijing subway. CSR produced all the trains for Lines 4,^[12][13] 8, Daxing,^[13] Changping^[14] and newer batches of trains for Line 1^[15] and 14.^[9][16][17]

The Beijing Subway Rolling Stock Equipment Co. Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of the Beijing Mass Transit Railway Operation Corp., provides local assemblage, maintenance and repair services.

In the 1960s to mid-1970s, the Beijing Subway used DK2 and DK3 models made in Changchun. The DK stands for diandong keche or electrically-operated passenger car.^[18] These models and their derivatives, the DK3G, DK20, DK16A, BD1 and BD2 are classified by the Beijing Subway as the first generation.^[19] In recent decades, the Beijing Subway Rolling Stock Equipment Co. refurbished the DK16A and DK20 models, which remained in use well into the first decade of the 21st century.^[20] The refurbished DK16AG trains entered into service on Line 2 in 2005.^[21]

From the 1980 to the early 1990s, the subway introduced several new models including the DK6, DK9 and their derivatives the DK11, DK16 and GTO.^[22] The M-series trains that appeared on Lines 2 and 13 were made by Japan's Tokyu Car Corporation.^[23][24][25]

In 1998, the subway began deploying a new generation of train sets that featured variable voltage variable frequency (VVVF) control mechanisms. These models include the DKZ4, DKZ5, and the DKZ6.^[26] DKZ stands for diandong keche zu or electric passenger train sets.^[18] The Changchun RVC also made 174 DK28-DK31 metro cars, which uses VVVF inverters and AC motors for Line 1,^[27] and 136 DK32-34 trains for Line 13.^[28] In 2005, Line Batong began using SFX01 and SFX02 trains made by Qingdao Sifang.^[18] The 40 trains of the Airport Express were made by a joint-venture between the Changchun RVC and Bombardier Transportation, and uses Bombardier's Advanced Rapid Transit (ART) Mark II technology.^[25][29]

During the opening of Line 13 some ex-Pyongyang Metro Changchun DK4 cars were used until the new order of cars replaced them.