Monthly Archives: May 2010

Interview with China Global Times

I was recently interviewed by Chris Chagnon of the China Global Times about why I created the ExploreMetro websites and apps, my love of metro maps and plans for the future 🙂

You have a new map of the Tokyo Subway coming online this year; do you have future plans for expansion?

My plan for world domination is, of course, a secret, but my next target cities are Seoul and Taipei. There are also scores of first and second tier cities in China that are currently building metros, so I think I’m going to be busy.

Read the full article here: Tube topographer

What’s the busiest metro line in Shanghai?

On Friday, the Shanghai Metro company announced that daily passenger numbers had again broken the daily record, surpassing 6 million. They also provided line-by-line numbers so it’s possible to see the numbers of passengers using the different lines:

Clearly Lines 1 and 2 are the most popular, with over 1 million each.  Line 4 and Line 8 are the next most popular. Of the lines which opened in 2010, Line 7 is already seeing almost half a million daily passengers.

Win Expo tickets with Explore Shanghai

We’re giving away five tickets to the Shanghai World Expo!

If you’ve been living in Shanghai, or planning a trip, you’ll no doubt be planning a visit to the Expo Site. Regular tickets cost 160 RMB ($23) but thanks to Explore Shanghai you could visit for free! The competition is open to anyone who uses Explore Shanghai for iPhone, available from the iTunes App Store. Explore Shanghai is a great companion for your Expo trip, it includes up-to-date information on all the new metro lines, including Line 13 directly into the Expo park.

You can download ExploreShanghai for iPhone from the iTunes App Store for just $0.99. Once you’ve downloaded, tap on the Help tab and fill in your details to be entered into the draw. You can enter once per day, and the more you enter the greater your chance of winning! We’ll announce the first lucky winner on May 31st.

Disclaimer: ExploreMetro is the sole sponsor of this Sweepstakes and Apple is not a sponsor or responsible for this Sweepstakes.

8 things you didn’t know about the Shanghai Metro

We recently contributed to CNNGo’s article Another 51 things you may not know about Shanghai – but should. Here’s our selection of facts about the Shanghai Metro!

39. Shanghai’s circular Metro Line 4 was originally not a circle. During construction in 2003, the section under the Huangpu river collapsed, though no-one was injured. It took until 2007 to open the final section from Damuqiao Lu to Lancun Lu.

40. Several of Shanghai’s Metro lines have been given unofficial nicknames. Line 10 is the “Golden Line” as it links many of the city’s tourist attractions like Yuyuan and Xintiandi. Line 6 has been dubbed the “Hello Kitty Line” due to its lurid pink livery.
41. The longest possible journey on the Shanghai Metro is between Pudong International Airport on Line 2 and Anting on Line 11. The journey takes around two and a quarter hours and costs RMB 10. In the time it takes to get to Anting, you could fly to Japan!

42. Shanghai now has the longest metro system in the world, with 420km of track (260 miles), overtaking the London Underground’s 408km. It took London 140 years to reach this length, Shanghai did it in 15 years.

43. The Shanghai Metro has a mascot, a small blue robot called Chang Chang. Its name means “smooth traffic” in Chinese.

44. Due to overcrowding on Shanghai Metro Line 8, staff have been employed to push extra people into carriages at peak times.

45. On some Metro lines, a snippet of music from “Going Home” by saxophonist Kenny G is played at the terminal station. This piece of music is also played in some Chinese schools to mark the end of the day.

46. A number of oddly dressed people have been spotted by Chinese netizens on the Shanghai Metro. In recent years ‘Leopard Print Man,’ a robot, Superman, and an Egyptian mummy have all been spotted riding the subway.

Read the full article on CNNgo

Travelling from Pudong Airport to Hongqiao Airport by Shanghai Metro Line 2

UPDATE: Travelling from Pudong or Hongqiao to downtown Shanghai instead? Check out our new articles for Hongqiao Airport to downtown or Pudong Airport to downtown.

Shanghai’s Metro Line 2 now connects the city’s two main airports, Pudong and Hongqiao. But if you’re connecting between two flights, how long can you expect the journey to take?

We set off to find out! We started the clock at Pudong International Airport‘s arrivals gate.


Continue reading →

Shanghai Metro: later trains across the network

Good news, with the Shanghai World Expo opening to the public today, you can take advantage of later trains across the Shanghai Metro network. To find the first/last train times for any station, just click on the name of the station on our interactive map.

The significant changes are:

Most lines now finish operations between 10.30pm and 11.30pm. Note that Line 10 and the Line 2 extension to Pudong International Airport still finish at 4pm.

Line 13, the Expo Line, will run until midnight, and additional trains may be added after the official closing time on other lines to transport people away from the Expo Zone, see signs at stations for further information.

We’ll have an update for our iPhone app (now at version 2.1) with the new times shortly.