Metro news from the local press:
Getting Around: Pretrials, paper capers, and People's Square air
Getting around: Maglev hours, smoke-free taxis, Googling buses, and subway swaps
News tidbits from the public transportation world:
People's Square transfer hall to open by year's end
The free Metro Express commuter paper has a big front-page spread today on the People's Square metro interchange make-over. The headline announces that "People's Square Three Line Interchange Hall To Open By Year's End", which is old news to those who have been following the progress of the new metro Line 8. Instead, the reason for the story being published today is that the Shanghai Rail Transport Construction Headquarters just released a bunch of numbers on the new station, as well as a map of the planned station layout. Among the numbers:
Transport tips: free maps and magnetic strips
Two bits of transportation news from random sources:
Anticipate a date with Line 8
An industry source in this Metrofans thread reveals that internal estimates for the opening date of Metro Line 8 (M8) have moved up to October 31st from the previous estimate of December 28.
The Metro: Bridges'n'tunnels, now hiring and overheard on the train
- A round-up of BBS posts on the Shanghai metro:
- People's Square concrete drying... and drying... Poster SanNiu British Teacakes noticed yesterday that the yellow metal floor protectors place in front of the glass safety doors on the People's Square Line 1 platform have been moved around as the floor is repaired following the safety door installation process.
- Line 7 to perform "double crossing" of Suzhou CreekThe Metro Line 7 will perform a over-and-under double crossing of the Suzhou Creek south of the Zhenping Rd station. Line 7, a north-south line stretching from the outer Putuo District down to the World Expo site in Pudong, will cross the Suzhou Creek southbound through through a tunnel and northbound over a bridge. This is an unprecedented arrangement for the Shanghai metro system. On its journey, Line 7 will also intersect with Line 2 at Jing'an Temple and with Line 1 at Changshu Rd.
- Rumors say Line 4 to be delayed to 2008Rumors say that the structural engineering of ring line 4 will be complete by mid-2007, and that the installation of equipment and testing will take another full year to complete.
Transport: More Maglev ... less Bund Tourist Tunnel?
Lots of juicy transportation news today:
The Metro: Vending machines, service centers and a Flash map
Those of you in the know may have heard that new ticketing machines are making an appearance on the Shanghai Metro system. Yesterday, Shanghaiist passed through the Century Park station and witnessed two new ticket vending machines that include the option to recharge your stored-value card straight from your bank card, unpacked but not yet in use. Awesome. These new machines are being added at selected stations around the city.
The Metro: English site, station redesigns, train to PVG?
Alert web surfers notice that the Shanghai Metro has redesigned their website. The English version is well done, and has some cool "inside" pictures of the subway car storage warehouse.
The Metro: New trains, big plans and avoid 中山公园
Browsing the Ditiezu.com (Subway-ers) BBS, we came across some interesting tidbits:
Local Press: 'Vacations', pedicabs and metro growth
Lots of juicy news items in yesterday's Morning Post:
Transportation cards — where does all the money go?
When you buy a transportation card in Shanghai (交通卡 or jiao tong ka), you have to make an RMB 30 "deposit". So for example, if you give a RMB 100 note when you buy your card, it will only be credited with RMB 70.

