First, some interesting facts about the Shanghai metro system from Wikipedia
- It only opened in 1995 (the third line in China after Beijing and Tianjin)
- There are 12 lines and 292 stations, which makes it the third longest metro in the world
- These lines delivered 2.26 billion rides in 2012 - making it the fifth busiest in the world
This graphic provides a great perspective on how rapidly the Shanghai metro has grown since it first opened in 1995.
My commute pictures start at my only transfer on my 45 minute commute. At Yi Shan Road Station I am transferring from line 3 or line 4, which roughly run along the first ring of Shanghai sub-burbs to line 9, which heads to the Southwest corner of the Shanghai metro.
After coming out of line 3 or 4 there are a series of stairs that I didn't bother to capture. My first picture is the above-ground passageway that connects these two lines to line 9. Three years ago, when I first started this commute, I had to exit the station altogether and re-enter the line 9 station, so this passageway is an improvement.
To the right of the streams of people outside the passageway is an empty lot that hasn't changed much in the past three years.
At the end of the long passageway there are stairs that duck under several mini-billboards, currently advertising the Microsoft Surface tablet, and head to a small flight of stairs and then some escalators.
Next is the first escalator, which is relatively short, roughly 50 meters, and dumps you out in a transit room that has the larger escalators.
These large escalators are probably 100 meters long and they take you down to the platform where the real fun begins.
At the platform you can either go right to take the north bound train or join me and go left to take the south bound train. On the south bound side there are 28 doors and near my door I counted roughly 30 people. That means there is likely over 800 people - just on the south bound side! In other words, there is probably more than 1,600 people waiting on the platform. Basically, wall to wall people!
The biggest challenge in the morning is getting on the train as when it arrives at the station it is usually packed with people. This morning was no exception as it took me three tries to get on the train.
I didn't even try to budge my way on the first time. The second time I try and reached the train only to be pushed back by the crowd. The guy with his elbow in the middle eventually did get on after the door open and closed on him a couple times.
Finally, on my third attempt, I successfully got on. We were crammed in like sardines!
After two stops it is time for me to get off at the Cao He Jing High Tech Park stop. The crowd of people spring out of the train like a jack in the box and we all rush towards the escalators.
The platform at Cao He Jing looks just as crowded as it did at Yi Shan Road.
Finally, after walking through the turnstile I get on a final set of escalators and can once again see the light of day!
