Author Archives: matt

All change as Taipei Songshan Line opens

It’s all change on the Taipei Metro this week as the new Songshan Line opens. Although only 4 new stations have opened: Songshan, Nanjing Sanmin, Taipei Arena and Beimen, there’s also been a major reorientation of services on the other lines, leading to much improved and simplified interchanges in central Taipei. The Songshan Line connects through to the Xindian Line as part of the new Line 3, shown in green on the map below:

Screenshot 2014-11-16 22.29.34

Additionally, the lines in Taipei have now been numbered for the first time, aiding tourists and visitors to Taipei.

* The Wenhu Line (brown) is now Line 1
* The Tamsui-Xinyi Line (red) is now Line 2
* The Songshan-Xindian Line (green) is now Line 3
* The Zhonghe-Xinlu Line (orange) is now Line 4
* The Bannan Line (blue) is now Line 5

We’ve updated our online map at taipei.exploremetro.com with all the new stations and lines. Updates to our iOS and Android apps are coming soon! Due to the large number of changes, there may be some errors or issues with the maps. Spot anything out of place? Do get in touch!

Introducing Material Design for our Android metro maps

We’ve just updated all of our ExploreMetro Android apps with a style update inspired by the new Google Material Design patterns.

You’ll see more consistent use of colour throughout the apps: for example Shanghai uses a blue theme with a blue icon, blue toolbar and blue highlights, while Singapore is purple and Beijing is red.

It’s also even easier to plan a route, just tap the big circular Plan Route button (in orange in the screenshot below) to start planning a route.

We’ve also taken the opportunity to roll out some other updates, with station and first/last train time updates for Shanghai, and updated journey prices for Singapore. Find any issues with the latest updates? Get in touch

Asia’s best metro maps: now free forever on iPhone

I’m excited to announce that starting today, all our iPhone metro maps apps are free to download. Whether you need a metro map for Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Hong Kong, Singapore, Seoul, or Taipei – both iPhone and Android apps can be downloaded free of charge. This is not a temporary promotion, all our apps are free, forever.

It’s been five years since I launched the first version of Explore Shanghai for iPhone, and a lot has changed in the app market. Most apps are now free to download, and people’s appetite for paid apps is declining. I’m still confident that the ExploreMetro apps are Asia’s best metro maps, and with your help they can be the most popular too!

If you download an app for the first time, you can use nearly all the features of the app for free, including search, route-planning and street maps. Certain features such as first/last train times, audio pronunciations of stations and offline street maps are now premium features. You can upgrade any app to VIP mode to get all premium features, and remove banner ads.

If you’ve ever downloaded a paid version of the app you are entitled to continue using all the premium features for free, forever. If you have any problems restoring your purchase, please contact us!

Tell your friends… tell the world… Asia’s best metro maps are now FREE!

Hello Shenzhen – introducing our newest ExploreMetro city!

We’re pleased to announce the official launch of our newest ExploreMetro city: Shenzhen!

Explore Shenzhen is now available:

Qufu Road interchange opens on Shanghai Metro

The Shanghai Metro company has announced that Qufu Road is now open as an interchange between Line 8 and Line 12. Previously Line 12, which opened earlier in the year, terminated at Tiantong Road.

The new interchange is expected to bring even more traffic to the already-overcrowded Line 8. During rush hour, a one-way system will be used to help passengers flow around the station more easily.

We’ve just pushed live updates to our online map at www.exploreshanghai.com and our Android app, an update to our iPhone app has been submitted to Apple and should be approved within the next week.

Access all areas: disabled and elevator access information, now in our Shanghai iPhone app

Many residents and visitors to Shanghai have limited mobility. Whether you use a wheelchair, or are using a stroller, the good news is that many stations on the Shanghai Metro have accessible lifts/elevators. We’ve now made this information available in our iPhone app in the “tips” section. Simply select “Tips” for any station, and look for the blue wheelchair icon.

We’ve sourced this information directly from the Shanghai Metro company, so there may be some errors or omissions. The tips are also available on the “Metropedia” pages, for example Xintiandi. Let us know if you have any feedback or suggestions on how to make this information better!

We added this feature as a direct result of a suggestion on our feedback forum – so please feel free to make other suggestions on the forum, it really does help!

Exit strategy: new information on exits for the Shanghai Metropedia

We’ve added a new feature to the Metropedia pages for the Shanghai Metro. You can now see basic exit information, so you can check which road to exit onto. Here’s an example for South Shaanxi Road:

This is a test for now, so you’ll only see the exit data for Shanghai, and only for English. We’ll be looking at improved ways to show this information in our mobile apps too. Let us know if you have any feedback!

Guangzhou Metro Line 6 opens

Guangzhou Metro Line 6 has opened to passengers. The new line runs from Xunfenggang in Baiyun District, through Liwan and Yuexiu, and terminates at Changban in Tianhe District. There are new interchanges with Line 5 at Tanwei, Line 1 at Huangsha, Line 2 at Haizhu Square, Line 1 at Dongshankou, and Line 3 at Yantang and Tianhe Coach Terminal.

Here’s a preview of the new line:

Here’s the full list of new stations

Xunfenggang 浔峰岗
Hengsha 横沙
Shabei 沙贝
Hesha 河沙
Tanwei 坦尾
Ruyifang 如意坊
Huangsha 黄沙
Culture Park 文化公园
Yide Lu 一德路 (closed)
Haizhu Square 海珠广场
Beijing Lu 北京路
Tuanyida Guangchang 团一大广场
Donghu 东湖
Dongshankou 东山口
Ouzhuang 区庄
Huanghuagang 黄花岗
Shaheding 沙河顶
Shahe 沙河 (closed)
Tianpingjia 天平架
Yantang 燕塘
Tianhe Coach Terminal 天河客运站
Changban 长湴

Updates to our online map, iOS and Android apps will be available soon!

Beijing Subway Line 8 gets longer

Beijing Subway’s Line 8 is scheduled to receive two extensions this December! The northern extension connects Line 8 with the Changping Line, with a cross-platform interchange at Zhuxinzhuang. There are new stations at Pingxifu and Yuzhilu.

The southern extension adds three stations at Shichahai, Nanluoguxiang (now an interchange with Line 6), with the terminal station at National Art Museum.

In the future (by around 2017), Line 8 will continue futher south, through Wangfujing, Qianmen and beyond.

Meanwhile, interchanges between Line 1 and Line 9 are now possible at Military Museum station.

Beijing Subway expert David Feng reports that interchange times are around 5 minutes for Line 1 to Line 9 and 8-10 minutes from Line 9 to Line 1. The interchange passageway is well-lit with wide corridors, but includes steep stairs!

Updates to our online map, iPhone and Android apps will be available soon!

Step-by-step routeplanning on our online maps

We’ve just released an improvement to the routeplanner on all our online maps. Similar to our iPhone apps, when you plan a route, as well as seeing the route directly on the map with orange dots, you’ll also be able see step-by-step route directions, such as “Start at Potong Pasir, take North East Line, for 6 stops towards HarbourFront”.

If you find any issues with the new directions, let us know! We’ll be looking to make improvements, such as adding numbered directions for Singapore.

the Explore blog

Asia's best metro maps