Shànghǎi Metro

10th – 14th April 2013.

The Shànghǎi Metro is very fast, modern, efficient and easy to follow.

The trains come into the stations behind a perspex wall, so you can’t get accidentally pushed onto the rails by the big crowds.  Along the wall are marked where the doors of the carriages will be, about every five metres.  When the trains stop, their doors exactly match the door markings on the walls. 

On the floor of the platform are arrows which indicate where the people will come out, and where people can line up, in single file, either side of each door.  Consequently, when a train arrives, there are a whole lot of neat lines of people waiting to get on.  However, when the doors open, there is quite a surge.  If you hesitate, the people behind just push you on.

Electronic boards tell you when the next train is due, in minutes and seconds.  We would have caught the Metro about ten times when we were there, and only once was a train not exactly on time.  It was a whole 30 seconds late.  The trains run very frequently – we never had to wait more than four minutes.

Tickets are plastic, recyclable and cheap, especially if you are a senior!

 In the stations, especially where you are changing lines, there are enormous crowds of people.  It’s quite easy to find your way, as the lines are numerically numbered, colour coded and clearly signed.  In the picture above, you can see the directions for Line 1 (red), Line 2 (green) and Line 8 (blue).

The underground stations are huge, often including mini shopping malls, and have multiple exits.  This was where we sometimes had a problem, taking an exit which finally emerged several blocks away from where we expected to be.  But that was all part of the fun.