The time has finally arrived for this year’s two most anticipated upgrades to the Shanghai metro system. Shentong Metro Group (the operator of Shanghai Metro) announced on Wednesday the opening of Line 17 and the East Extension of Line 9 will commence trial runs tomorrow, December 30.
After these two lines begin operating, the world’s longest Metro network will stretch even further, from 588 kilometers to 666 kilometers. The number of stations will total 389, with 52 interchange stations throughout the network.
Phase 3 of Line 9, which is also known as the East Extension, starts from Middle Yanggao Road (the current termination of Line 9) and ends at Caolu Town, with 9 stations on the route.
READ MORE: Phase 3 of Shanghai Metro Line 9 Opening Soon
Starting from Saturday, the operation of Line 9 will adopt a new timetable. The first train sets off from Caolu Town station at 5.30am, and the last train leaves at 10.30pm. At the other terminal, Songjiang South Railway Station, the first train departs at 5.40am and the last train will also leave at 10.30pm.
The interval time between trains will be 5 minutes and 30 seconds on weekdays and 5 minutes on weekends. During peak hours (6–10am & 4–8pm), the interval time from Sheshan to Middle Yanggao Road will be shortened to 2-3 minutes, while rest of the Line 9 will be extended to 6-7 minutes.
Line 17 (a.k.a. Qingpu Line) is also scheduled to make its debut tomorrow. As its name indicates, Line 17 mainly runs through Qingpu District and is for now, the only Metro line to connect Qingpu to the downtown area.
Covering a distance of 35.3 kilometers, Line 17 has a total of 13 station, including Oriental Land, Zhujiajiao, and Hongqiao Railway Station (with interchanges for Line 2 and Line 10). Its color will be light brown.
READ MORE: Shanghai Metro Line 17 is Opening Very Soon
The first train of Line 17 will set out from both ends (Hongqiao Railway Station and Oriental Land) at 6am. The last train will leave at 10pm (from Oriental Land) and 10.30pm (from Hongqiao Railway Station).
The interval time between trains on Line 17 will be 8 minutes (on weekdays) and 6 minutes (on weekends). During peak hours, the interval time from Dianshanhu Avenue to Hongqiao Railway Station will be cut down to 5 minutes while the interval time from Oriental Land to Dianshanhu Avenue will be extended to 10 minutes.
In addition to the debut of these new lines, this weekend will see additional changes to the Shanghai Metro timetable. On the nights of December 29 and 30, Lines 1, 2, 7, 8, 9 and 10 will temporarily extend their operation to satisfy their customer’s needs during the festival. Each Metro Line will run off their own extended operating hours schedule for the weekend, so be sure to refer to your station for further details.
Even with these new conveniences that come with the opening of the two new lines, it seems Shanghai Metro still has other cards up their sleeves. As previously reported, next year, Shanghai Metro will introduce high-tech functions such as QR code payment and face-scanning abilities. So as this year comes to a close we say ‘thankyou’ Shanghai Metro for continuing the enhance the way in which we travel around our great city.
