Huzzah! Line 2, Shanghai's busiest Metro line is stepping its game up beginning on Thursday, by shortening waiting times along certain stops, in addition to extending service hours. The move is being made to meet demand from travelers and residents who need evening access to the city's two airports. The stretch running from Guanglan Road Station to Pudong International Airport will now provide daily service from 6am to 10pm, extending the current daily service time by 1.5 hours. The waiting time between trains from Guanglan Road to Pudong Airport will be reduced to 7 minutes from the current 8.5 minutes during rush hour. Three extra trains will be added for the section between Guanglan Road and Yuandong Avenue, with services concluding at 10:24pm. As for the western section of Line 2, trains running from Yuandong Avenue station to East Xujing station (which includes both Hongqiao Airport stops) will have their intervals reduced to 6 minutes 42 seconds, down from the current time of 10 minutes. Current end of service for the downtown sections of Line 2 is 11pm. more ›

Called "Meet on the Second Line" (相约2号线), the game is meant to teach people safety tips for riding the subway. To start playing, you choose from five kinds of passengers - white-collar worker, student, teacher, police and... LAOWAI! That's right, they're their own type of subway passenger with supposedly different habits from the rest of the populace. Let me guess... their special skill is that they actually wait for people to get off before getting on the train? more ›

Were you mysteriously stranded along Metro Line 2 this morning? Well, the mystery has been solved. Shanghai Daily reports that a thief climbed on to the roof of a metro train and delayed service for 40 minutes at 8:45 this morning. The man stole a wallet at Lujiazui station, got off the train, and instead of making for the exit, cleverly ran for the tunnel and clambered onto the roof of the train. Perhaps he was trying to be inconspicuous, or maybe he was rehearsing for a role in a Speed remake. Either way, the police were called, and the thief was arrested and taken away uninjured. Meanwhile thousands of people were left stranded all along line 2. Normal service resumed at 9:30am. more ›

Now that restrictions during rush hours on Line 2 have worked out swell, Shanghai metro operators will be introducing them at night as well to ease tourist congestion - especially at the Nanjing Dong Lu stop. Apparently, 144 passengers enter that station every minute between 8pm and 9:30pm, more than the evening rush hour. The situation has gotten so bad that some staff are allowing people in without paying first, asking them to deal with it at their destination. Two more ticket booths havev been added and station entrances will now be closed when "crowds are overwhelming." more ›

After the death of one Line 2 passenger a couple weeks ago and a delay caused by a fainting passenger last week, metro officials have decided to limit passenger numbers at four stations on the line during rush hours to try to make them run more smoothly. The four stations are Zhangjiang High-Tech Park, Dongchang Road, Lujiazui Road and Jiangsu Road. Yikes - is it just me, or does this sound like it'll turn into a bottleneck of passengers right outside the station? more ›

Hey hey, metro riders: Metro Line 2 will be extending its service time towards Pudong airport beginning tomorrow! From now on, instead of that rush hour avoiding 9am to 4pm time frame, the daily hours between Guanglan Road Station and Pudong airport will be 6:30am to 9:30pm. Intervals between trains will also be cut to about 8.5 minutes, from the almost 20 minutes it is now. Metro operators say they expect Line 2 to become "the busiest among the city's lines" after the schedule change. more ›

Starting tomorrow, everyone will be able to ride Line 2 between Shanghai's two airports. Initial service from Guanglan Road Station to the Pudong International Airport Station will last from 9am to 4pm (though they'll increase the hours before the Expo starts). Getting there from Hongqiao Airport will cost 8RMB and take roughly two hours. more ›

• YES! YES! Testing has started for the Metro Line 2 extensions that would connect our lil' green rail to both the Hongqiao and Pudong Int'l Airports. Sure, getting there will take a crap load of time if you're riding the subway, but we are still ecstatic for the option! [Shanghai Daily]
• Want to know what the right price is for ayis, drivers, visas and housing? eChinacities breaks it down for you. [eChinacities]
• Youth consultancy Neocha opens up their doors and lets you take an intimate peek at their studio in Shanghai, apparently often described as one of the "most eclectic and random" work spaces in the city. [Neocha]

This morning, the No.2 line stopped working right in the middle of rush hour. According to one tipster, there were half hour to 40 minute long delays in total trip time with the metro stopping for five to 10 minutes at every stop. more ›

Two recent stories from the Shanghai subway system might be worth your notice:
• A score of news reports are heralding new measures to alleviate passenger load on Line 2 trains on the Pudong side, where Zhangjiang High-Tech Park station has become one of the metro system's highest trafficked stations due to what the Xinmin Evening Post calls “白领客流”, the "white-collar passenger flow". More trains are being added to both the morning and afternoon rush hours, and morning hours at Zhangjiang are being extended to match Zhongshan Park's early hours with a first train at 5:55 in the morning. The changes are already reflected on the Shanghai Metro company's website. Also, Zhangjiang Station has begun to use both platforms to send passengers off to Puxi and now has the option of restricting passenger access to the station during overly crowded periods.
• Just like last year's Trojan ads, a new but more risqué Durex ad featuring a woman in hot pants and a construction worker that is being shown on subway and office building LCDs has offended passengers and white-collar workers, and is on its way to being banned within the next week for not passing inspection by the State Food and Drug Administration as an ad for a medical product. A popular editorial titled "Sex Ed is not going to fall from the sky" by SHEN Ruoyu opposes the possible ban and argues that the ostrich approach to sex is not appropriate in this day and age.