Congratulations to Kerstin, who has won this month's free ticket to the Shanghai World Expo! We're giving away a free ticket every month to users of our ExploreShanghai metro map for iPhone. We'll give out another free ticket in June, so check out the competition and download ExploreShanghai for iPhone!

I was recently interviewed by Chris Chagnon of the China Global Times about why I created the ExploreMetro websites and apps, my love of metro maps and plans for the future :)

You have a new map of the Tokyo Subway coming online this year; do you have future plans for expansion?

My plan for world domination is, of course, a secret, but my next target cities are Seoul and Taipei. There are also scores of first and second tier cities in China that are currently building metros, so I think I'm going to be busy.

Read the full article here: Tube topographer

On Friday, the Shanghai Metro company announced that daily passenger numbers had again broken the daily record, surpassing 6 million. They also provided line-by-line numbers so it's possible to see the numbers of passengers using the different lines:

Clearly Lines 1 and 2 are the most popular, with over 1 million each.  Line 4 and Line 8 are the next most popular. Of the lines which opened in 2010, Line 7 is already seeing almost half a million daily passengers.

We're giving away five tickets to the Shanghai World Expo!

If you've been living in Shanghai, or planning a trip, you'll no doubt be planning a visit to the Expo Site. Regular tickets cost 160 RMB ($23) but thanks to Explore Shanghai you could visit for free! The competition is open to anyone who uses Explore Shanghai for iPhone, available from the iTunes App Store. Explore Shanghai is a great companion for your Expo trip, it includes up-to-date information on all the new metro lines, including Line 13 directly into the Expo park.

You can download ExploreShanghai for iPhone from the iTunes App Store for just $0.99. Once you've downloaded, tap on the Help tab and fill in your details to be entered into the draw. You can enter once per day, and the more you enter the greater your chance of winning! We'll announce the first lucky winner on May 31st.

Disclaimer: ExploreMetro is the sole sponsor of this Sweepstakes and Apple is not a sponsor or responsible for this Sweepstakes.

We recently contributed to CNNGo's article Another 51 things you may not know about Shanghai - but should. Here's our selection of facts about the Shanghai Metro!

39. Shanghai's circular Metro Line 4 was originally not a circle. During construction in 2003, the section under the Huangpu river collapsed, though no-one was injured. It took until 2007 to open the final section from Damuqiao Lu to Lancun Lu.

40. Several of Shanghai's Metro lines have been given unofficial nicknames. Line 10 is the "Golden Line" as it links many of the city's tourist attractions like Yuyuan and Xintiandi. Line 6 has been dubbed the "Hello Kitty Line" due to its lurid pink livery. 41. The longest possible journey on the Shanghai Metro is between Pudong International Airport on Line 2 and Anting on Line 11. The journey takes around two and a quarter hours and costs RMB 10. In the time it takes to get to Anting, you could fly to Japan!

42. Shanghai now has the longest metro system in the world, with 420km of track (260 miles), overtaking the London Underground's 408km. It took London 140 years to reach this length, Shanghai did it in 15 years.

43. The Shanghai Metro has a mascot, a small blue robot called Chang Chang. Its name means "smooth traffic" in Chinese.

44. Due to overcrowding on Shanghai Metro Line 8, staff have been employed to push extra people into carriages at peak times.

45. On some Metro lines, a snippet of music from "Going Home" by saxophonist Kenny G is played at the terminal station. This piece of music is also played in some Chinese schools to mark the end of the day.

46. A number of oddly dressed people have been spotted by Chinese netizens on the Shanghai Metro. In recent years 'Leopard Print Man,' a robot, Superman, and an Egyptian mummy have all been spotted riding the subway.

Read the full article on CNNgo

UPDATE: Travelling from Pudong or Hongqiao to downtown Shanghai instead? Check out our new articles for Hongqiao Airport to downtown or Pudong Airport to downtown.

Shanghai's Metro Line 2 now connects the city's two main airports, Pudong and Hongqiao. But if you're connecting between two flights, how long can you expect the journey to take?

We set off to find out! We started the clock at Pudong International Airport's arrivals gate.

The metro station is located between the two terminals. Take the "central path" and follow the signs for the metro. It's only about 5-6 minutes walk to the entrance gate. You can either buy a ticket here (to Hongqiao Airport will set you back 8 RMB) or use a Shanghai Public Transportation Card).

Only one way to go: toward "midtown".

Trains from Pudong run every 13 minutes between 9am and 4pm during the trial operation. Opening hours should be extended soon.

We were lucky and a train arrived in 2 minutes.

Out of Pudong the metro is above ground, proving excellent views of ... the airport ...

vast swathes of empty land being dug up by bulldozers...

houses ...

empty highways...

There are 7 intermediate stations between Pudong Airport and Guanglan Road. They are: Haitiansan Road, Yuandong Avenue, Lingkong Road, Chuansha, East Huaxia Road, Middle Chuangxin Road and Tangzhen. After Lingkong Avenue station the line goes underground.

At Guanglan Road you'll have to interchange onto a main line Line 2 train for the remaining stretch to Hongqiao. Only 4-car shuttles serve the Pudong International Airport stretch while 8-car trains serve the rest of the line. Interchanging is very simple, thanks to a cross-platform interchange: simply walk off one train, cross the platform and board the train opposite. Heading west there are trains every 3-6 minutes. If you're heading in the oposite direction there may be up to a 13 minute wait.

With 42 minutes elapsed we boarded the train toward East Xujing (the current terminus of Line 2, one stop beyond Hongqiao Airport).

Two stops on is Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park, the former eastern terminus of Line 2. Since the opening of the new extension there is a new underground station here which has gone sone way to help solve the chronic overcrowding problems at the old station.

3 stops further on is Longyang Road, the terminal station for the Shanghai Maglev Train. If you don't mind spending an extra 50 rmb and want the experience of travelling at 431km/h you can take the Maglev from Pudong Airport and join Line 2 here, although given the extra waiting around and walk between the Maglev terminal and the metro station, you'll probably only trim 20 minutes from the total journey times between the two terminals.

Runnng through the centre of Shanghai there are lots of opportunities to interchange to other lines: in fact you can transfer to 9 of the 11 other Shanghai Metro lines from Line 2! Line 1 at People's Square, Line 3 at Zhongshan Park, Line 4 at Century Avenue or Zhongshan Park, Line 6 at Century Avenue, Line 7 at Jing'an Temple or Longyang Road, Line 8 at People's Square, Line 9 at Century Avenue, Line 10 at East Nanjing Road and Line 11 at Jiangsu Road! Finally, with 1 hour and 44 minutes on the clock, we arrived at Hongqiao Airport Terminal 2 station.

Until Line 10 is extended to Hongqiao Airport Terminal 1 later this year, to reach Terminal 1 you'll need to catch a shuttle bus. Reaching Terminal 2 is pretty simple however, just follow the signs from the basement level.

There's a short escalator up to arrivals, or an extra-long escalator all the way up to Level 3 departures. Be sure to take the escalator on the left!

And finally we made it to check-in at Hongqiao, 1 hour and 50 minutes after departing arrivals at Pudong.

If you're in a big rush and don't mind spending 300RMB+, a taxi is probably still your best option. There's also a bus link linking the two airports (Airport Line 1), but like taxis it can be very slow if traffic is jammed. Taking the metro is not fast, but it's reliable and a pretty hassle-free way to get between the two airports. Just don't expect great views!

Good news, with the Shanghai World Expo opening to the public today, you can take advantage of later trains across the Shanghai Metro network. To find the first/last train times for any station, just click on the name of the station on our interactive map.

The significant changes are:

• Line 6 runs 30 minutes later
• Line 7 runs 1 hour later
• Line 8 runs 30 minutes later
• Line 9 runs 45 minutes later
• Line 11 runs 1 hour later

Most lines now finish operations between 10.30pm and 11.30pm. Note that Line 10 and the Line 2 extension to Pudong International Airport still finish at 4pm.

Line 13, the Expo Line, will run until midnight, and additional trains may be added after the official closing time on other lines to transport people away from the Expo Zone, see signs at stations for further information.

We'll have an update for our iPhone app (now at version 2.1) with the new times shortly.

We're delighted that the Explore Shanghai metro map for iPhone is now the #1 selling travel app on the China App Store! Thank you to everyone who has bought the app and left us some great reviews:

This is a sweet app if you live in Shanghai, as the metro has grown so much a tool is needed. - onewil

One of my favorates! Super useful. The time estimated is quite accurate. I always check it before I go. The best metroline map I ever use. - titan0801

Great little app to get around Shanghai. Is more updated than the metro maps at the stations! - ShanghaiGuy1010

及时回复和更新值得称赞 - 679953

这是我最大的上海地铁的应用程序已经使用过 - Shaw Freeman

Explore Shanghai is available now on the iTunes App Store priced at just $0.99. Download now!

The latest updates to our iPhone apps have just been approved by Apple. The Explore Singapore 2.0 update includes the new Singapore MRT Circle Line stations which opened last week, while the Explore Shanghai 2.0 update includes the latest extensions to Shanghai Metro Line 7 and Line 10.

Another new feature debuting with 2.0 is landscape mode. Since the iPhone screen is quite small, it can be hard to see the whole metro map at once. Now if you tilt your iPhone to the side, the app will automatically use landscape mode, and the status bar and tab bar will be automatically hidden, to give you the maximum space for the map!

Just tilt back to portrait if you want to access other features like search and "find my nearest station". We'll be updating our other city apps, for Guangzhou, Hong Kong and Beijing to support landscape mode in the next couple of weeks!

Explore Shanghai 2.0 and Explore Singapore 2.0 are free updates to existing users, and are available on the iTunes App Store priced at just $0.99:

• Download Explore Shanghai
• Download Explore Singapore

One of the easiest ways to get to the Shanghai World Expo site once it opens to the public on May 1st will be by metro. A dedicated line, Line 13, will run from Madang Road station, an interchange with Line 9. Here's what you need to know:

• You must have a valid Expo ticket to ride Line 13. Rides are free.
• The Expo and Line 13 officially open on May 1st, but the line is open for ticket holders during the "soft"/trial opening until May 1st
• The line will operate from 09:00 to 24:00, the same as the opening hours for the Expo park. Trains will run every 6 minutes.
• At Madang Road, you'll need to exit the Line 9  station and follow signs to the Expo entrance. Then you'll undergo security checks and have your ticket checked before being allowed to board the train.
• There are two stations within the Expo Zone on Line 13: Lupu Bridge on the Puxi side and Shibo Avenue on the Pudong side. At both stations you can walk straight into the Expo Park without needing further security checks
• Line 13 has a pink livery on maps and in stations
• You can also use Line 13 to hop between the Puxi and Pudong parts of the Expo Zone by travelling between Lupu Bridge and Shibo Avenue: this is free with an Expo ticket.
• There are additional entrances to the Expo zone accessible on foot or by shuttle bus from these stations: West Gaoke Road (Line 6/7), Houtan (Line 7), Changqing Road (Line 7), Yaohua Road (Line 7/8), and South Xizang Road (Line 4/8). These stations are outside the Expo Zone though, so you will have to pass through security after leaving the metro station.
• After the Expo ends, Line 13 will close until 2011, when it will reopen with additional stations.

We've updated our online Explore Shanghai metro map to add the new line, and an update to our iPhone app will be available in the next week.

Line 13 gallery

Thanks to some intrepid posters on the Metrofans BBS, here are some pictures of Line 13!