Planned express line to link Shanghai’s 2 airports

CONSTRUCTION will start on an express Metro line to connect the city’s Hongqiao and Pudong airports by the end of the year, Shanghai Mayor Ying Yong told a press conference at the International Business Leaders’ Advisory Council yesterday.

The line can improve the pivotal and service functions of both airports, Ying said.

“The express line will not only benefit transit passengers at both airports, but also make it more convenient for citizens to travel around,” Ying said. The project is also expected to make the city’s airports able to serve more people in the Yangtze River Delta region, he added.

Currently, passengers can take Metro Line 2 or airport bus between the two airports that roughly takes between 70 and 90 minutes, depending on whether commuters use the maglev line in addition to the Metro line. The new express line is expected to reduce that time.

According to a blueprint on the Shanghai Transport Commission website, the express line will be 68.6 kilometers long with nine stations across Xuhui and Minhang districts as well as the Pudong New Area.

It will run through Hongqiao Central Business District, Qibao historical town, Meilong Town, Huajing Town, Sanlin Town, Zhangjiang High-Tech Park, Shanghai Tourism and Resorts Zone, Pudong International Airport and the planned Shanghai East Railway Station. It will interchange with several Metro lines, according to the blueprint.

The project will include two underground sections between Lianming Road in Minhang and Nanliu Highway in Pudong, and Nanfeng Highway and Shanghai East Railway Station. The rest of the project will run above ground or on elevated rails, according to the blueprint.

Shanghai aims to develop the Hongqiao and Pudong international airports into civil aviation hubs that can match the city’s ambition to become an “excellent global city.”

The two airports handled a total of 112 million passengers last year along with over 4 million tons of cargo, according to the Shanghai Airport Authority.

As one of the busiest airports in China and a cargo transport hub for the Asia Pacific region, the Pudong airport handled over 70 million inbound and outbound passengers. Its cargo handover ranks third in the world following airports in Hong Kong and Memphis.

Expansion work is ongoing at the Pudong airport to build the world’s largest satellite terminal building. Upon its completion in 2019, the new terminal will increase the capacity of the airport to 80 million passengers annually, according to the airport authority.