Shanghai Public Transportation

By Micah Sittig (http://msittig.wubi.org)

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Metro updates: Virtual transfers and adjusted hours of operation

05/23/08

Metro updates: Virtual transfers and adjusted hours of operation

02:01:33 am, Categories: Metro

According to an article in the Shanghai Morning Post, the Shanghai Metro company is preparing to adjust the hours of operation of 5 subway lines and implementing a "virtual transfer" system for transportation card holders at three stations where direct transfers between connecting lines is not currently possible.

The adjusted hours of operation will be implemented starting June 1 and are meant to coordinate passenger flow between several connecting lines. The new hours are:

Line 1: Last train from Xinzhuang extended from 22:20 to 22:32.
Line 4: Last outer loop (counter clockwise) train arriving at South Railway Station extended from 22:00 to 22:14.
Line 5: Last train from Xinzhuang extended from 22:20 to 22:30.
Line 6 : First train from Gangcheng Road pushed forward from 6:30 to 6:00, last train extended from 20:00 to 21:11; first train from Lingshi Road pushed forward from 7:00 to 6:08, last train extended from 20:57 to 21:26.
Line 9: Last train from Guilin Road extended from 21:0 to 21:15.

More exciting is the new "virtual transfer" (虚拟换乘) system to be implemented as of June 1 at Shanghai Railway Station, Hongkou Football Stadium and Yishan Road. All three of these stations currently suffer from the same problem: for one reason or another it is impossible to change lines without exiting the station and buying a new ticket to re-enter the station at the other platform. To alleviate this problem the metro system will give transportation card holders a 30 minute grace period after they exit one platform to enter at the other platform and pay the same ticket price as if they had never left the metro system at all. In order to account for the new price possibilities, the Metro Company will release to all station a new price grid simultaneous to the implementation of the virtual transfer system. Due to the cost single-journey IC tickets and the need to collect them at the end of each trip for re-use, the virtual transfer option will not be available to single-journey ticket holders.

Just one more reason to get yourself a transportation card, folks!

Photo of a Shanghai public transportation card being swiped, by jamesjustin on Flickr.

Permalink • 18 comments »

18 comments

Comment from: Kel [Visitor]

Haha finally the Shanghai metro is extending its service hours. They are still pitiful though. A city like Shanghai needs nothing short of 24 hour service.

Shanghai metro is a lot like Washington DC metro. No express service. Short operation hours (although DC Metro has slightly longer operation times). Doubles as a commuter rail in suburban areas. Even the virtual transfer strongly resembles Smart Card that DC Metro uses. Very disappointing that Shanghai metro is modeling itself on DC metro. You'd think that a city as ambitious as Shanghai would settle for nothing less than New York City.

05/23/08 @ 11:29

Comment from: Ned [Visitor]

This is great news! Now if they'd just decrease headways between trains on Line 4 I'd be happy...

05/25/08 @ 08:13

Comment from: Ned [Visitor]

On the issue of the Washington Metro - I'd argue Shanghai's Metro is quite different. First, Washington's Metro has far longer operating hours with last trains at midnight on weekdays and 3am on Fridays and Saturdays - a significant difference from Shanghai's 10.30pm at best! In addition, Express service on a subway system is actually quite rare around the world - the only two cities I know with the service are New York and Chicago. I know with New York, they have express trains because the subway system was built by a cut-and-cover excavation method, effectively tearing up an entire street, digging a trench, laying tracks and then repaving the street over the subway. Today this method is seldom used because of disruption to city traffic and commerce, now boring machines build most tunnels. If a city wanted to build an express subway system that would double the cost of the line because four tunnels, instead of two, would need to be bored. I agree it would be nice to have express trains but the reality is, unless the express system is above ground, we are very unlikely to see modern day express subway systems built.

05/25/08 @ 11:57

Comment from: Matt Mayer [Visitor] · http://www.exploreshanghai.com/

Minor clarification, according to the official site, its the last train on line 1 FROM Xinzhuang to Fujin Road which is extended to 22:32

05/31/08 @ 17:00

Comment from: Micah S [Blogger] [Member]

· http://msittig.wubi.org/

Thanks Matt. Fixed above.

06/01/08 @ 01:38

Comment from: Kel [Visitor]

@Ned,

Yes you're right. Washington Metro's hours are much longer than Shanghai Metro's hours. But apart from that, they are quite similar in function and structure, being that stations are spaced very far apart with an average of over 1 km between stations and their doubling up as commuter rail in suburban areas?

06/01/08 @ 11:17

Comment from: Ned [Visitor]

Agreed, Washington acts like a subway in the District and a commuter rail outside of it. Its bloody hell to try and get between stations on the Orange Line in Virginia! But I feel Shanghai has a leg-up on Washington for the "in the city" portions - Shanghai only shares trackage on Lines 3/4 whereas Washington's 2nd busiest line (the Orange Line) is stuck sharing tracks with the Blue Line on its entire length in the District. What I do love about Shanghai is how they are actually BUILDING the subway, in the U.S. we just debate it for years...

06/22/08 @ 11:36

Comment from: Mark [Visitor]

@Kel, I'll 2nd that. I have been going to Shanghai for the Tennis Masters Cup since '05 and could not believe how early the metro shut down. The cynic in me thinks either the Party doesn't want the people out and about or it's a ploy to keep the taxi drivers happy. And it can be a little nerve racking for a Caucasian to get a taxi late at night, even with a card that has the hotel name and a little map in Mandarin. But so far, so good...

@Ned, agreed that they are building and not talking - but that may only be because the word 'lobbyist' has not been translated into Mandarin - yet. :-)

10/27/08 @ 07:06

Comment from: Martin Goodman [Visitor]

As a brief visitor to Shanghai, and one born and raised in New York City, I heartily agree with the general line of criticism made on this site: It is nothing short of PATHETIC that a truly world class city like Shanghai... such a vibrant and proud and powerful city... which in some respects genuinely dwarfs New York City... should have anything less than a 24 hour (24/7/365) subway.

A 10:30 PM shut down is pitiful.

I recall one very close to me expressing her delight that she could get an express A train around 6 AM on New Year's Day in NY City, heading to my house in Brooklyn Heights from JFK.

I appreciate the very significant expense of building express lines, but having grown up using them daily in New York City, I know from decades of experience their importance in making the subway an efficient and viable means of truly rapid transit is overwhelming.

New York City's express lines were, by the way, by and large, designed into the subway system at the very start, and a part of it when it opened in 1903.

Now THAT's foresight!

Yes... NY City's system is a bit long in the tooth, and would benefit from quieter, cleaner cars, more modern stations, etc. But aging as it is, it remains arguably the single most practical and rapid means of urban transportation ever constructed.

---marty

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