Shanghai Metro

Partial service patterns exist on Lines 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 12 and 17.[46][56][47][49][50][51][57][52][53] Partial services serve only a (usually busier) sub-segment of the entire physical line. In addition, Line 2 had a piecewise service pattern during morning peak hours whereby the suburban segment between Guanglan Road station and Pudong International Airport station is partially served by a 4-car fleet in addition to the regular 8-car fleet serving the whole line before April 19, 2019.

Since 28 December 2018, during off-peak times, an 8-car fleet from East Xujing or Songhong Road station may terminate at Pudong International Airport station, but most trains still terminate at Guanglan Road station or Tangzhen (only during peak hours). 8-car train started serving the whole line in a regular schedule from April 19, 2019.[58]

Partial services make it easier to find seats on the metro in rush hours. As an example, every second east-bound train on line 12 passing Caobao Road station is much more empty because it departed from Hongmei Road station.

Line 12 has a partial service between Hongmei Road and Jufeng Road.

Line 11, one of the three branch lines of the metro system, operates a different partial service pattern. Trains travelling to and from the branch line terminate at Huaqiao Station and Sanlin respectively. Hence, a passenger who wants to travel from the terminus of the branch to the eastern terminus of the line, at Disney Resort must change trains.[52]

Line 17, which opened in December 2017, operates a partial service pattern from Hongqiao Railway Station to Dianshanhu Avenue during rush hours in addition to the full service to Oriental Land.[59]

Line 16, unlike the rest of the system, is built with passing loops and operates a rush-hour express service. The service was postponed on January 30, 2014, due to lack of available trains, but resumed on March 21, 2016.[60][61][62]

All trains in the Shanghai Metro display destinations in Simplified Chinese and English, and make announcements in Standard Mandarin, English, and (on line 16 only) Shanghainese in order to indicate next stations, directions, and partial/full-length service patterns.[63]

The operating hours for most Shanghai metro stations starts between 5:00 to 6:00 in the morning and ends between 22:30 to 23:00 CST. In February 2017 (Shanghai Metro) announced that by April 1, 2017, the operating hours of Line 1, 2, and 7 to 10 will be extended by an hour after the regular last train on each Friday, Saturday and last working days before Chinese Public Holidays. This will be extended to Lines 3, 4, 6, and 11 to 13 by July 1, 2017. By the end of 2018, all the stations in the city center will extend their operating hours after midnight. Also, there will be two trains taking passengers from Hongqiao Railway Station after normal operation time and only stop at several stations, which always happens on the last day of a vacation, e.g. Labor Day, National Day, etc.[64]

There are two types of transfer stations: physical transfer stations and transit-card only ones. In a physical transfer station, passengers can transfer between subway lines without exiting a fare zone. In a transit-card only transfer station, however, passengers have to exit and re-enter fare zones as they transfer from one subway line to another. In order to receive a discounted fare, passengers must use a Shanghai public transport card (SPTC) instead of Single-Ride tickets.

• Baoshan Road, Shanghai Railway Station, Zhongtan Road, Zhenping Road, Caoyang Road, Jinshajiang Road, Zhongshan Park, West Yan'an Road and Hongqiao Road are interchanges between Lines 3 and 4. This is where the two lines share tracks between Baoshan Road and Hongqiao Road.
• Lines 4 and 6 stop at two different stations both known as Pudian Road, but these two stations are not located together and interchanging is not possible.
• Longyang Road and Pudong International Airport stations also provide transfers to the Shanghai maglev train, though passengers have to make another payment if they board the Maglev train.

A transit-card only transfer station is a station where two lines meet, but unlike a physical interchange, there is no direct pathway between them within the paid fare area. Passengers wishing to interchange must exit the paid fare area for the first line, walk a short distance on the street, and re-enter the paid fare area for the second line. Since June 1, 2008, passengers interchanging using a Shanghai public transport card have their trip regarded as one journey and the distance will be accumulated for fare calculation. Passengers must exit a station and re-enter another within 30 minutes using the same Shanghai public transport card. Those using single-ride tickets cannot use virtual transfers and must purchase a new ticket.

In some cases, virtual interchanges in place during a period of construction were superseded by physical interchanges at the completion of the construction. For example, Hongkou Football Stadium station was previously a virtual interchange between Line 3 and Line 8. Another previously virtual interchange was South Shaanxi Road station between Line 1 and Line 10; after the opening of an extension of line 12 to the station in December 2015 transfers among all three lines became a physical interchange.

The current virtual interchanges are:

• Changqing Road is a virtual interchange station between Line 7 and Line 13.
• Hongqiao Airport Terminal 2 is a virtual interchange station between Line 2 and Line 10. However, Line 2 trains bound for Pudong International Airport and Line 10 trains bound for Xinjiangwancheng share an island platform. The middle island platform of the station opened in January 2018, so that passengers may transfer from downtown Line 2 and Line 10 trains by walking through the middle island platform.
• Shanghai Railway Station is a virtual interchange station between Line 1 and Line 3 / Line 4, but Line 3 and Line 4 share the same platforms and the transfer between Lines 3 and 4 can be made by simply waiting for the next train to arrive at the platform.
• West Nanjing Road is a virtual interchange station among Line 2, Line 12 and Line 13.
• Loushanguan Road is a virtual interchange station between Line 2 and Line 15.

The busiest station in Shanghai Metro system is People's Square (Lines 1, 2 and 8). As the interchange station for three lines, it is extremely crowded during peak hours. It remains busy during the rest of the day as it is located near major shopping and tourist destinations such as East Nanjing Road, a pedestrian street, as well as the Shanghai Museum, People's Park, the Shanghai Grand Theatre and Yan'an Park on People's Square. It has the second largest number of exits (totalling 17) in the stations of the metro system.

Xujiahui (Lines 1, 9 and 11) is located in the major Xujiahui commercial center of Shanghai. Six large shopping malls and eight large office towers are each within a three-minute walk of one of the station's exits, numbering a total of 18 since the addition of the four in the Line 9 part of the station that opened in December 2009. This is the largest number of exits of all the stations on the system. This station is also widely used as a pedestrian tunnel across the wide roads.

Lujiazui (Line 2) is the major station in Pudong area. It is situated in the heart of Lujiazui financial district, the financial center of Shanghai. The city's iconic landmarks, the Oriental Pearl TV Tower, Jin Mao Tower, Shanghai Tower and Shanghai World Financial Centre are all within walking distance of the station. In contrast to Xujiahui and People's Square, Lujiazui is not particularly busy during off-peak hours or on weekends as it is located in financial district of Shanghai. Line 14, expected to open in 2020, will pass Lujiazui and provide transfer as well.

Shanghai Railway Station (Lines 1, 3 and 4) is a major transportation hub in Shanghai, containing the railway station, two subway lines and the stop for many city bus lines as well as interprovincial buses. These bus lines will soon be housed in a brand-new bus station. The line 1 platform is in the South square while platforms for line 3/4 are in the North square. These two platforms are technically separate stations, so interchange is only possible between lines 3/4. A transfer to the line 1 platform requires a SPTC or a new ticket.

Shanghai South Railway Station (Lines 1 and 3) is a transport station for line 1 and line 3; and the maintenance base of line 1 is also located at Shanghai South Railway Station.

Zhongshan Park (Lines 2, 3 and 4) is a heavily trafficked station due to the large shopping malls and hotel immediately above it.

Century Avenue (Lines 2, 4, 6 and 9) is the largest interchange station in the Shanghai Metro system, and the first station in mainland China to offer an interchange between four metro or subway lines.[65]

Pudong International Airport (Line 2) is the eastern terminus of Line 2. It serves the airport of the same name in Shanghai. The station also provides a transfer with the Shanghai maglev train to Longyang Road.

Hongqiao Railway Station (Lines 2, 10 and 17), Hongqiao Airport Terminal 1 (Line 10) and Hongqiao Airport Terminal 2 (Lines 2 and 10) are metro stations located in the Hongqiao transportation hub, composed of the Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport and Shanghai Hongqiao Railway Station. Both Hongqiao Airport stations are directly linked with the airport, offering many domestic and limited international flights, and the Hongqiao Railway metro station is directly linked with the train station. The airport and railway stations themselves offer a zero-distance transfer.

• For most lines, the base fare is 3 yuan (RMB) for journeys under 6 km, then 1 yuan for each additional 10 km. As of December 2017, the highest fare is 15 yuan (travel between Oriental Land to Dishui Lake, the farthest distance at present ).
• Shortest route calculated as multiple route available between any entry-exit stations
• Travel time limit is 4 hour. Additional lowest single journey fare (3 yuan) is required if time limit is exceeded.
  

  Shanghai metro ticketing machine map

• Unlimited ride ticket is available

• For journeys exclusively on the 1st Phase of Line 5 (Xinzhuang – Minhang Development Zone), the fare is 2 yuan for journeys under 6 km and all other journeys are 3 yuan (though the total length of this section is a bit longer than 16 km). Will not be applied once passengers interchange to other lines, e.g. Fare for passengers from Xinzhuang to Chunshen Road is 2 Yuan, while fare for passengers from Waihuanlu to Chunshen Road is 3 Yuan.
• For journeys exclusively from Xinzhuang Station to People's Square Station, the fare is 4 yuan, though the distance between People's Square Station and Xinzhuang Station is about 17.8 km (11.1 mi).

• Users of the Shanghai public transport card get a 10% discount for the rest of the calendar month after paying 70 yuan in taking metro, e.g. a passenger has paid 67 Yuan on metro tickets through SPTC this calendar month, and next time he will only pay 2.7 yuan for his next 3-yuan ticket in this calendar month. The discount is applied only for journeys after the payment; it is not retroactively applied to previous journeys.
• Users of the Shanghai public transport card as part of the "Air-conditioned Bus Transfer Discount" get a 1 yuan discount when transferring to the metro within 90 minutes. (The 10% monthly discount may be applied after the transfer discount) This discount also applies for a bus to Metro and bus to bus transfers and can accumulate over multiple transfers. For example, to get from Zhenbei Rd/Meichuan Rd to Xiuyan Rd/Hunan Rd would normally cost 8 yuan each way (947 buses to line 4 to 451 bus) but only costs 6 RMB with the card (947 buses discounted transfer to line 4, discounted transfer to 451 bus). Depending on the time spent at the destination the discount will be applied at the start of the return trip as well, making the cost of a round-trip 11 yuan instead of the 16 yuan that would normally be charged without the card.

Single-Journey tickets can be purchased from ticket vending machines, and at some stations, at a ticket window. Single-ride tickets are embedded with RFID contactless chips. When entering the system riders tap the ticket against a scanner above the turnstile, and when they exit they insert the ticket into a slot where it is stored and recycled.

• 
  Line 1 ticket used in 1995-1997
• 
  Line 1 ticket used in 1997-1999
• 
  Line 3 ticket used before 2003
• 
  Line 5 ticket used before 2005

In addition to a Single-Ride ticket, the fare can be paid using a Shanghai public transport card, which is similar to the Octopus card of Hong Kong's MTR. This RFID-embedded card can be purchased at selected banks, convenience stores and metro stations with a 20-yuan deposit. This card can be loaded at ticket booths, Service Centers at the metro stations as well as many small convenience stores and banks throughout the city. The Shanghai Public Transportation Card can also be used to pay for other forms of transportation, such as taxi or bus.

A one-day pass was introduced for the Expo 2010 held in Shanghai. The fare for the calendar day was set at 18 yuan, for unlimited travel within the metro system. This is not available through vending machines, but has to be purchased at Service Centers at metro stations.[66]

A three-day pass is available for Shanghai Metro. The fare for three days was set at 45 yuan, for unlimited travel within the metro system. This pass is not available through vending machines, but has to be purchased at Service Centers at metro stations.

Standard gauge is used throughout the network, allowing new train equipment to be transported over the Chinese rail network which uses the same gauge.

Almost all stations, except most of the elevated sections and sections of Line 2 from Songhong Road to Longyang Road, have platform screen doors with sliding acrylic glass at the platform edge. The train stops with its doors lined-up with the sliding doors on the platform edge and open when the train doors open, and are closed at other times. These screens are also being retrofitted on existing lines, starting with Line 1 whose core stations had doors by the end of 2006. On part of Line 2 and most of the elevated sections, the platform has sliding safety doors that reach only halfway up from the ground called Automatic platform gates. Line 5 is the exception, where they have not yet installed platform screen doors.

There are currently over 5000 revenue railcars in the Shanghai metro system. The 5000th car was delivered on July 20, 2018. It is expected that the 7000th metro car will be received in 2020.[67] Train sets used in the system include:

• 134 Bombardier Movia 456 six car sets (09A01, 09A02, 07A01 and 12A01) – Lines 9, 7 and 12
• 53 German Shanghai Metro Group (GSMG) six cars units (Coded as AC01 for Line 1, AC02 for Line 2 for those using Alternating Current since they were made or DC01 for those formerly using Direct Current (for Line 1) – Line 1 and 2 (all reformed to eight car units)
• 53 Alstom Metropolis eight car sets (Coded as 01A05) – Line 1,[68] (Coded as 02A02) – Line 2[69]
• 16 Alstom Metropolis four car sets (02A04) – Section of Line 2[70]
• 17 Alstom Metropolis four car sets (05C01) – Line 5
• 21 Alstom Metropolis four car sets (06C01) – Line 6
• 28 Alstom Metropolis six car sets (08C01) – Line 8
• 29 CNR Changchun Railway Vehicles Co., Ltd. four car sets (AC14) – Line 6[71]
• 38 CNR Changchun Railway Vehicles Co., Ltd. seven car sets (AC15) – Line 8[72]
• 28 Alstom Metropolis six car sets (03A01) – Line 3[73]
• 94 Siemens & CSR Zhuzhou six car sets (AC05, AC16) – Line 4[74] and 11[75]
• 41 Shanghai Electric-Alstom/Nanjing Puzhen Rolling Stock Co., Ltd. six car sets – Line 10[76]
• 33 Nanjing Puzhen Rolling Stock Works six car sets – Line 13[77]
• 46 Siemens & CSR Zhuzhou three car sets[78] – Two sets are coupled to form a six car train – Line 16
• 26 CNR Changchun Railway Vehicles Co., Ltd. six car sets (03A02 and 04A02) – Lines 3 and 4
• CNR Changchun Railway Vehicles Co., Ltd. six car sets (09A03) – Line 9
• 16 CNR Changchun Railway Vehicles Co., Ltd. six car sets (11A02, 11A03) – Line 11
• APM 300 four car sets – Pujiang line[79]

Train sets to be used in the future include:

• 49 CRRC Nanjing Puzhen Ltd. eight car sets – Line 14[80]

Most lines currently use 6 car sets, with the exceptions being:

• The Minhang Developing Zone branch of Line 5, Line 6 and Pujiang Line, which uses 4 car sets. [72]
• Most trains on Line 8 use 7 car sets.[72]
• Line 1 and Line 2 use 8 car sets.
• Some trains on Line 16 use 3 car sets. However, this is set to change with new 6-car sets being phased into service from March 2020 along with the existing 3-car sets being coupled into 6-car sets.[81][82]

Shanghai Metro lines 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11 are equipped with CBTC systems capable of headways as low as 90 seconds.[83]

In contrast to many other metro systems in the world, the Shanghai Metro uses overhead wires for the power supply, except for Line 16, Line 17 and Pujiang Line which use third rail.

On Line 2, Siemens Transportation Systems equipped the line with an overhead contact line (cantilever material: galvanized steel) and 7 DC traction power supply substations.[84]

Plasma screens on the platforms show passengers when the next two trains are coming, along with advertisements and public service announcements. The subway cars contain LCD screens showing advertisements and on some lines, the next stop, while above-ground trains have LED screens showing the next stop. The LED screens are being phased in on Line 1 and are also included in lines 7 and 9, two underground lines. There are recorded messages stating the next stop in Mandarin, English, and (on line 16 only) Shanghainese,[63][85] but the messages stating nearby attractions or shops for a given station (a form of paid advertising) are in Mandarin only. The metro operating company is resistant to expanding use of Shanghainese for announcing stops, on the basis that, on most lines, the majority of passengers can understand either Mandarin or English.[86]

Station signs are in Simplified Chinese and English. The Metro authority is testing a new systematic numbering system for stations on Line 10.[87]