Shanghai's municipal railway system taking shape

Shanghai's municipal railway system is an important part of the local transportation network.

This railway system connects Shanghai's downtown areas with the "five new cities" and rural regions under development. It also links with the national railway or rail traffic of nearby cities in order to achieve a 60-minute intra-city circle, like an outer circle. Shanghai is building the "five new cities" in the suburban districts of Jiading, Qingpu, Songjiang, and Fengxian as well as Nanhui in the Pudong New Area

The trains have a designated speed of 160 kilometers per hour, adopt bus-like operation and the distance between stations is about 3km on average.

They can offer convenient, high-speed and comfortable service and passengers can enter the stations by simply scanning a QR code or using their public transport card and get on the train whenever it arrives. The shortest interval is only 3 minutes.

Currently, five lines of the municipal railway system are under construction. They are: the airport connection line, Jiamin line, Hanhui subline, Shifanqu line and Nanfeng line.

Shanghai has designed a 1,157km municipal railway system. Currently, 295.5km of the railway and 50 stations are under construction.

All lines have two types of trains: four carriages holding a maximum of 748 people and eight carriages holding 1,604 people.

Five lines:

AIRPORT LINK LINE

With construction starting on June 28, 2019, the 68.8-km line passes through Minhang and Xuhui districts and Pudong. So far, main structure construction of seven stations has been completed and they are now undergoing interior decoration and other affiliated project construction.

JIA-MIN LINE

Construction began on June 28, 2021, and the 44.04-km line passes through Jiading and Minhang districts.

NANHUI LINE

Construction for the line, which is 34.86km long, began on January 4, 2022.

DEMONSTRATION ZONE LINE

With construction kicking off on July 13, 2022, the 52.4-km line passes through Minhang and Qingpu districts.

NAN-FENG LINE

Construction for the 95.6-km line commenced on December 28, 2023, and it passes through Pudong and Fengxian, Songjiang and Jinshan districts.

The Airport connection line is expected to start trial operation in September.