Short-term Apartment Rentals for Short-stay Travelers to Shanghai

It is expected that about 70 million people will attend the Shanghai Expo this year. Since visitors are more likely to take the metro instead of a bus or a taxi, concerns have been raised as whether the Shanghai metro can handle the high traffics of the Expo.

Before the end of April, Shanghai will have 11 metro lines in operation, with about 250 stations and a total length of 400 km. According to a statistic (Chinese) I got this morning, the amount of metro passengers broke the record again for the day of March 26th, about 5.36 million pople took the metro in that day. If you spread the 70 million visitors over the 6-month period of Expo, that is about 388,888 visitors moving between hotels and Expo sites every day, only a small fraction of 5 million daily commuters.

There are certainly other factors you need to take in account. For example, every metro station will set up baggage checks to scan bags for prohibited items. When in rush hours, long lines before the security checks are probably inevitable. Metro lines that directly take passengers to the Expo entrances are more likely to be crowded compared to other lines.

My best guess is that there are certain time periods in which it is painful to take the metro and most of the time  it will be OK. Here is an interesting “real-time” map I just found, showing you which metro lines are crowded (colored with yellow), stopped working (with red), or just fine (with green). So, to answer the question – “When should I take the metro during Shanghai Expo?”, my advice is – take the metro in non rush hours, if possible, avoid weekends and holidays, and don’t forget to consult with us or your hotel staff and keep yourself updated.

Enjoy the clean, speedy and comfortable Shanghai metro

Extended Readings and Useful Information:

Shanghai Metro Map

Shanghai Expo Official Website

Metro – Wang Jianshuo’s Blog