Here's everything you need to know about the new reaches of the network.

Line 13: The High-Tech Connection (North Section)

The most significant opening today is the Northern Section of Line 13. This 16.1 km stretch connects the Nanshan High-Tech Park area with the Shiyan neighborhood in Bao'an.

The extension adds 9 stations, including major hubs like Liuxiandong (transfer to Line 5) and Shangwu (transfer to Line 6). Note that Xili High-Speed Railway Station will remain an "infill" station for now---trains will pass through without stopping until the massive transport hub above it is completed in a year or two.

Line 8: To the East and Beyond (Phase III)

If you're a fan of Shenzhen's eastern coastline, Line 8 just got even better. The Phase III extension pushes past the former terminus at Xiaomeisha all the way to Xichong. This marks the first time a metro line has officially entered the Dapeng New Area. It's just one new station, but it brings the beach much closer to the city center.

Line 5: Into the Heart of Luohu

Line 5 has finally reached the historic commercial heart of the city. This 2.88 km extension moves west from Huangbeiling to Grand Theater.

This "small but mighty" extension adds three stations:

• Hubei
• Dongmen
• Grand Theater

This will provide much-needed relief to the transfer bottleneck at Huangbeiling and give residents in the west a direct shot to Luohu's prime shopping districts.

Line 11: Extending the Express

Finally, Line 11 has been extended further east. The new section runs from Huaqiang South to Hongling South, interchanging with Line 9.

Check for updates!

We are currently updating the Explore Shenzhen maps for web, iOS, and Android. You can expect the new stations and updated route-planning to be live within the next 24-48 hours.

Check Explore Shenzhen for the latest.

Happy exploring!

Here is everything you need to know about the latest expansions.

Line 18

The headline of the month is the opening of Line 18, a 19.8 km corridor connecting Malianwa to Tiantongyuandong.

Line 18 has a complicated history, and will be reconfigured in the future along with Line 13. It provides a direct express link to the Shangdi Software Park, cutting commute times for tech workers.

• Key Interchanges: Transfer to Line 16 at Malianwa, Line 8 at Huilongguan Dongdajie, Line 5 at Tiantong Yuan, and Line 17 at Tiantongyuandong.

Line 17: The Middle Section is Complete!

After several years of operating as two separate segments, the Line 17 central section is finally open! The 8.2 km gap between Workers' Stadium and Shilihe has been bridged, creating a seamless north-south express corridor.

Passengers can now travel from Future Science City North all the way to Jiahuihu. This section adds vital transfers at Yong'anli (Line 1) and Dongdaqiao (Line 6).

Note: Connections at Guangqumen Wai and Wangjingxi are not yet open for passenger service on Line 17.

Line 6: One-Station Extension to Luyang

The eastern end of Line 6 has moved one stop further. The line now extends 2.1 km past Lucheng to its new terminus at Luyang.

We have updated our Beijing Subway map and mobile apps with all the new stations, revised travel times, and the latest first/last train information; updates for our iOS and Android apps are rolling out in the next few days.

The extension adds five new operational stations to the line, including a major new interchange:

• Tongnan Road (通南路)
• West Changjiang Road (长江西路)
• Aihui Road (爱辉路)
• Hulan Road (呼兰路) — Interchange with Line 1
• Kangwen Road (康文路) — New Northern Terminus

A sixth station, South Jiangyang Road (江杨南路), has also been constructed but will remain closed for the time being as development continues in the surrounding Wusong Innovation City area. This will later be a interchange with the future Line 19.

Better connectivity for Baoshan

The highlight of this extension is the new transfer at Hulan Road, which allows passengers to switch between Line 18 and Line 1. This provides a much-needed alternative for commuters in northern Shanghai to reach the Pudong New Area without traveling through the congested city center.

Now live on Explore Shanghai

We have updated our interactive Shanghai Metro map with the new stations and interchange. Updates for our iOS and Android apps are rolling out now—look for the update in the App Store or Google Play to get the latest maps and route planning on your device!

First up, East Xujing (徐泾东) which opened in 2010 on Line 2, as well as Zhuguang Road (诸光路) which opened in in 2017 on Line 17, have both been renamed to National Exhibition and Convention Center (国家会展中心站). This is in preparation for it becoming a full interchange station once the extension to Line 13 also opens here in future.

Similarly, Dongchang Road (东昌路), which opened in 1999 on Line 2, has been renamed to South Pudong Road (浦东南路), to match the existing name of the station on Line 14 which opened in 2021.

In 2005, a station called Pudian Road (浦电路) opened on Line 4 and in 2007, another station called Pudian Road opened on Line 6, however confusingly there was never an interchange between the two. After 17 years this anomaly has been fixed, with the Line 4 station now renamed to Xiangcheng Road (向城路).

As there are plans for a new station at the new Pudong Airport Terminal 3, the existing Pudong International Airport (浦东国际机场) stations on the Maglev and Line 2, which opened in 2002 and 2010 respectively, have been renamed to Pudong Airport Terminal 1&2 (浦东1号2号航站楼).

Yuanshen Stadium on Line 6 has been renamed to Yuanshen Sports Center to better match the Chinese name of 源深体育中心.

Songjiang South Railway Station (松江南站) which opened in 2012 on Line 9 has been renamed to Shanghai Songjiang Railway Station (上海松江站) to match the name of the attached railway station which was renamed in May 2024.

Finally West Huajing (华泾西) which opened in 2021 on Line 15 has been renamed to Jinghong Road (景洪路), matching the name of a future station on the Airport Link Line which it will interchange with.

These new names are live on exploreshanghai.com and updates to our iOS and Android apps will be available soon.

As usual, there are several new extensions openings in China at the end of the year.

Beijing Metro Expansions

The capital city is gearing up for significant additions to its metro network by the end of December. This will extend the system from 807 km to 836 km, overtaking Shanghai again!

• Line 11 Extension: Just one extra station, extending from Jin'anqiao to Moshikou

• Line 16 Expansion: The extension from Yushuzhuang will now include two new stations - Hongtaizhuang and Wanpingcheng

• Line 17 New Route: A brand new segment from Workers Stadium to Future Science City North. This will run seperately from the existing southern section of Line 17 for now, with the middle section opening later.

• Interchange at Suzhou Jie: A new interchange will open between Lines 10 and 16 at Suzhou Jie

Shenzhen Line 8 Extension

• Opening Date: 27th December 2023

• Line 8 Extension: This extension runs from Yantian Road to Xiaomeisha, covering a distance of approximately 8 kilometers

Guangzhou Metro Additions

• Opening Date: 28th December 2023

• Line 5 Extension: A new stretch Wenchong to Huangpu New Port, spanning 9.8 kilometers.

• Line 7 Extension: A 19.9-kilometer extension from Higher Education Mega Center South to Yanshan

The new extensions to Line 5 and Line 7 introduce a number of new interchanges such as Xiayuan (5/13), Yufengwei (7/13), Dashadong (5/7), Luogang (6/7) and Shuixi (7/21).

As usual expect updates to our iOS apps, Android apps and website shortly.

Here's a summary of the lines and extensions already open during December 2019/January 2020 and the current status on the ExploreMetro apps. If you think I missed anything, please shoot me an email to support@exploremetro.com

Updated now on all platforms:

• Bangkok - 04 Dec 2019 - Sukhumvit Line, Ha Yaek Lat Phrao - Kasetsart University MAPS UPDATED on web, iOS and Android!
• Bangkok - 04 Dec 2019 - Blue Line, Tao Poon - Sirindhorn MAPS UPDATED on web, iOS and Android!
• Shenzhen - 08 Dec 2019 - Line 9, Hongshuwan South - Qianwan MAPS UPDATED on web, iOS and Android!
• Guangzhou 20 Dec 2019 - Line 21, Yuancun - Zhenlongxi MAPS UPDATED on web, iOS and Android
• Bangkok - 23 Dec 2019 - Blue Line, Sirindhorn - Tha Phra MAPS UPDATED on web and iOS and Android
• Beijing - 28-30 Dec 2019, Line 7, Jiaohuachang - Huazhuang + Shuangjing and Batong Line, Tuqiao - Huazhuang, Line 13 Qinghe station MAPS UPDATED on web, iOS and Android!
• Guangzhou - 28 Dec 2019, Line 8, Fenghuang Xincun - Cultural Park MAPS UPDATED on web, iOS and Android!
• Taipei - 19 Jan 2020, Circular Line (Yellow) - New Taipei Industrial Park to Dapinglin MAPS UPDATED on web, Android and iOS!
• Singapore - 31 Jan 2020, Thomson–East Coast Line, Woodlands North - Woodlands South MAPS UPDATED on web, Android and iOS!

Opening soon:

• Hong Kong - 14 Feb 2020, Tuen Ma Line, Tai Wai to Kai Tak

The line will reduce travel times between Bao’an, Qianhai, and Shekou. In future, there will be additional interchanges to Line 9 at Qianwan station and Line 15 at Railway Park Station.

Our online Shenzhen metro map is already updated, and there will be updates for our iOS and Android apps shortly!

The line is colored blue on the map:

To avoid confusion, the Airport Express train to the existing Beijing Capital Airport will now be referred to as the Capital Airport Express.

We've already updated our online Beijing Subway map with the new line, and updates to our iOS and Android apps will be available soon.

Let's do some back of the envelope calculations on how much this would cost based on publically available information from the BTS and MRT.

The BTS Skytrain carries around 240 million trips per year, with farebox revenue of THB 7 billion, an average fare of fare THB 29 per trip.

The MRT carries around 115 million trips per year, with farebox revenue of about THB 3 billion and an average fare of about THB 25.

If there was a flat fare of 15 baht, and the government to fully reimburse the private operators for the cost of each trip, then each journey would need to be subsidised by about 14 baht on the BTS and 10 baht on the MRT, a total subsidy of about 4.5 billion baht. About 75% of the subsidy would be for the BTS, due to higher ridership and higher fares.

However this assumes that lower fares would have no effect on ridership numbers. In practice, we could realistically assume a 10-20% increase in ridership after a fare cut, bringing the subsidy above 5 billion per annum. The opening of future lines like the Yellow and Pink lines will further increase ridership.

How could the cost of the subsidy be limited? There are two obvious ways. First it's likely the government could agree a lower subsidy per ride in exchange for the future increase of passenger numbers. Second, the flat fare could be slightly higher. A flat fare of 20 baht instead of 15 baht would only require a subsidy of 2.7 billion baht instead of 4.5 billion baht.

Is this worth it? The pros and cons of subsidised public transportation have been debated at length. It's clear that Bangkok suffers from heavy negative externalities from excessive motorbike and car use in the form of heavy pollution and congestion, so if the fare cut could bring commuters off the roads and onto public transport, perhaps. A 2016 study found the economic costs of Bangkok's traffic was 11 billion baht per year.

First, the MRT Blue Line will be extended by 5 stations to the west of its current terminus at Hua Lampong: calling at Wat Mangkon, Sam Yot and Sanam Chai, before crossing the river with further stops at Itsaraphap and Tha Phra.

It will be free to take rides on the MRT between Wat Mangkon and Tha Phra during the test runs.

Several of the new stations have impressive designs, such as the Wat Mangkon station (in Bangkok's Chinatown) which is modelled after a Chinese temple.

This is just the first phase of ambitious expansion plans for the MRT Blue Line in the next 12 months. In September, it's planned to open a further 6-station extension west from Tha Phra to Lak Song. This extension will interchange with the BTS Silom Line at Bang Wa.

Additionally, in March 2020, another branch will run north from Tha Phra to Tao Poon, finally completing the Blue Line's circular loop.

Separately this August, the BTS Sukhumvit Line will be extended by one station north of the current terminus at Mo Chit, to Ha Yaek Lat Phrao (Lat Phrao Interchange). This station will provide an additional interchange with the MRT Blue Line at Phahon Yothin station.

It's nice to see Bangkok's metro lines finally extending, and more importantly interchanging with each other! Look out for updates to our Bangkok BTS/MRT map online, on iOS and Android soon!

Line 6 has been extended an additional four stations west from its old terminus at Haidian Wuluju to Jin'anqiao. This provides an interchange to the S1 Maglev line, which was previously disconnected from the rest of the network. In future there will also be an interchange with Line 1 at Pingguoyuan.

Line 8 has opened a new southern extension. At the moment, it is disconnected from the other part of Line 8, so the lines will run as two separate services. There are useful interchanges to Line 7 at Zhushikou and Line 14 at Yongdingmenwai, and in future there will be an interchange to Line 10 at Dahongmen. The line continues to a new terminus at Yinghai.

There are also a few additional infill stations. The Yizhuang Line is extended one stop to Yizhuang Railway station, Line 6 adds a new station at Beiyunhe East, Line 7 adds a new station at Fatou, and the northern part of Line 8 is extended by one station to National Art Museum.

We're busy updating all our maps to add the new stations. Check here for status updates!

• Web: Not ready yet
• iOS: Not ready yet
• Android: Not ready yet

Last year when the Knowledge City branch line of Line 14 opened it was disconnected from the rest of the Guangzhou Metro network. The good news is that the main branch of the line has now opened, connecting to Line 2 and Line 3 at Jiahewanggang. To transfer to the Knowledge City branch, change trains at Xinhe.

Additionally, Line 21 has now opened, extending from the end of the Knowledge City branch at Zhenlong. The 9 stations of the line help connect Zengcheng District, the last of the districts of Guangzhou to receive metro service.

The Guangfo intercity line which connects Guangzhou and Foshan has also received an extension. The segment from Yangang — Lijiao adds additional useful interchanges with Line 2 at Nanzhou and Line 3 at Lijiao.

We are busy working on updates for the web version, Android version and iOS version and will update here when each is available:

• Web: Available now at exploregz.com
• iOS: Available now, download version 16.1.0 from the App Store
• Android: Download version 9.1.2 from Google Play or our APK downloads page

There are 8 new stations on Line 5, making the line into a "Y" shape. The new stations extend the line into Fengxian District, with a new terminus at Fengxian Xincheng.

Line 13 has been further extended into Pudong. There are new interchanges with Line 7 at Changqing Road, Line 8 at Chengshan Road, Line 6 at Dongming Road and Line 16 at Middle Huaxia Road, with a new terminus at Zhangjiang Road.

We're busy updating our maps to show the new lines and will update this blog post when the new lines are available on web, Android and iOS:

• Web: Available now at www.exploreshanghai.com
• iOS: Download version 16.1.0 from the App Store
• Android: Download version 9.1.1 from Google Play or our APK downloads page

Line 9 has opened in northern Guangzhou providing connectivity to Huadu District. With the line's opening, the interchange station at Gaozeng on Line 3 has also opened, just one stop from Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport at Airport South.

The new Line 13 has opened in Huangpu and Zengcheng districts. It connects with line 5 at Yuzhu station.

Line 4 has been extended further south. It now runs to a new southern terminus at Nansha Passenger Port from where there are high-speed ferries to Zhuhai and Hong Kong.

Finally is the extremely odd Line 14. This serves the catchily-named Sino-Singapore Guangzhou Knowledge City, a new development in north-eastern Guangzhou. Not only does Line 14 not connect with any other lines at present, it is more than 15km from any other part of the network!

Line 14 will eventually connect with Line 2 and Line 3 at Jiahewanggang, but don't hold your breath.

Updates to our online Guangzhou metro map and apps for iOS and Android will be rolling out over the next few days.

Some more information about the new line has now been published: it will appear grey on the official metro map, and upon opening, Shendu Highway station, the interchange with Line 8, will be renamed to Pujiang Country Park (浦江郊野公园) after the park of the same name.

[caption id="attachment_2289" align="aligncenter" width="650"] Pujiang Country Park[/caption]

Here's the updated metro map

Updates to our metro maps online, for Android and for iOS will be available soon!

Today we have a sneak preview of the Line S1 in Beijing which opens today.

The S1 is the first metro line in China to use Maglev technology. It runs in western Beijing in Shijingshan and Mentougou districts.

Unfortunately, the line currently does not connect to the rest of the Beijing Subway system. In future it will connect with Line 1 at Pingguoyuan and Line 6 at both Pingguoyuan and Jin'anqiao stations.

Updates to our metro maps online, for Android and for iOS are rolling out over the next few days.

We're rounding out 2017 with a preview of the new lines expected to open in China before the end of the year. Typically new lines open in the last few days of December, and details about the exact timetables and station details are only announced on opening day.

Today we have a sneak preview of the new Pujiang Line in Shanghai. It's an unusual line - an automated, driverless rubber-tyred metro line or "automated people mover", more commonly used to shuttle passengers between airport terminals.

It was originally planned as a southern extension to Line 8, now it is a separate line passengers will transfer to Line 8 at Shendu Highway station.

Updates to our metro maps online, for Android and for iOS are rolling out by the end of the year.

Today we have a sneak preview of the Line 9 eastern extension in Shanghai. Line 9, which first opened in 2007, will be extended 9 stops deeper into Pudong from the current terminus at Middle Yanggao Road, terminating at Caolu. There is also a handy interchange with Line 12 at Jinhai Road.

Updates to our metro maps online, for Android and for iOS are rolling out by the end of the year.

Today we have a sneak preview of the new Line 17 in Shanghai. Line 17 should dramatically improve connectivity in Qingpu District. Line 17 starts at Hongqiao Railway Station before heading west into Qingpu.

There is a stop at famous water town Zhujiajiao, with the terminus of the line at Oriental Land.

[caption id="attachment_2282" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] View of Zhujiajiao - Will Clayton, CC-BY[/caption]

Updates to our metro maps online, for Android and for iOS are rolling out by the end of the year.

Today we have a sneak preview of the new Yanfang Line in Beijing.

The Yanfang Line is located in the southwest of Beijing in Fangshan District. It will connect with the existing Fangshan Line at Yancun East station.

The terminus of the line at Yanshan is more than 42km from Tian'anmen! As the tendrils of the Beijing Subway snake ever further from the city center, some extremely long routes are possible. For example the shortest journey from Yanshan to Fengbo on Line 15 would take over three hours with five changes!

Updates to our metro maps online, for Android and for iOS are rolling out by the end of the year.