Sunday, December 16, 2007

Shanghai subway at the end of 2007


Exciting days for public transportation fans like me, since at the end of this month the size of the subway system in Shanghai will explode and I have been studying the upcoming changes. I'm still impressed by the operation.
A short summery you can find here, a full overview here.
Lines 6, 8 and 9 are fully new and especially 6 and 8 will add the pressure on the existing network, that is already on the top of its capacity, especially in the rush hours. I would expect to see some hectic scenes as large parts of Pudong get easy access to Puxi. The expansion to northern Puxi (lines 1, 3 and 8) will add to the pressure.
Line 9 is not yet connected with the larger network, of course an oddity, but three new lines onto the system would have been perhaps a bit too much. Now line 4 will become a real circular line, that might take some of the pressure away.
I might perhaps change my daily trips between Shanghai Stadium and Huaihai Zhonglu from a combination of line 4 and 1 to a combination of line 4 and 8, so I can avoid the troublesome line 1 at the rush hours.
Is your daily routine on the subway changing? Let me know, perhaps we can compare notes.

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