We're proud to announce the launch of exploregz.com, an interactive metro map of Guangzhou. Based on the same technology as exploreshanghai.com and explorebj.com, all your favourite features are there, including English and Chinese versions, route-planning with times and prices for tickets and a Metropedia with information on every station.
Have fun exploring a new city! Explore Guangzhou is still in "beta", so if you have any feedback, please feel free to comment on this blog, or via our contact us page.
You may have noticed that this blog has moved to exploremetro.com - this is a new site which will act as a central hub for information about all of our metro and subway maps. All old links and RSS subscriptions should continue to work fine.
Both ExploreShanghai and ExploreBeijing got an upgrade today. On ExploreBeijing you can now explore Subwaypedia, an encyclopedia containing information, timings and maps for every line and station on the Beijing Subway.
Beijing's Subway Line 8 is now open to the public, providing easy access to the Olympic Green and Forest Park.
Shanghai's matching Metropedia also got an upgrade, with more accurate information and faster-loading pages.
Don't forget, to jump to the Metro/Subwaypedia for any station, just click on the station on the interactive map.
ExploreShanghai proudly presents Metropedia, an encylopedia about the Shanghai metro. There's far more information than we can possibly display on the interactive metro map, so now each line and station has its own page.
You can jump to the Metropedia by clicking on any station, and choosing the "Metropedia" link in the bubble.
Alternatively, click the "Metropedia" tab at the top of each page to jump there directly.
Metropedia is multilingual, and the Chinese version of the site is at 地铁信息. You'll notice that you can toggle between the English and Chinese version of any page on the site by clicking English or 中文 in the top right of the page.
Over time, we'll be adding more information to make the pages more useful. If you have any suggestions, please leave a comment below!
On July 19th Beijing got three new subway lines: line 8, line 10 and the Airport Express. Details of all the new lines are on the ExploreBeijing subway map. Changes in the latest version:
First train/last train info for all the new lines (terminal stations only at present)
Updated information on the Airport Express at Terminal 2 and 3
Corrected some English station names
Improved Chinese translations and highlighting on interchanges
According to Beijing city blog Beijingologist, the new line 8, line 10 and Airport Express will open this week! A date has been announced as "pre-July 20, 2008"... after several delays let's hope it's for real this time.
The ExploreBeijing subway map now supports route planning. Simply drag your mouse between two stations to see an estimate for the time needed for the journey (including changes, and time spent waiting for trains).
Note that unlike on the Shanghai metro, all journeys cost a flat 2RMB. The new Airport Express line costs 25RMB! As with other features on explorebj.com, there may be some inaccuracies during the "beta" period, do get in touch if anything looks wrong!
The exact timings for the new lines (Line 8, Line 10 and the Airport Express) won't be confirmed until later this month when the lines open.
The Shanghai metro map has been redesigned based on your feedback. It now uses clearer fonts and colors, there's a handy legend for identifying which line is which, and route-planning has been made more intuitive. To plot a route, just drag between two stations, and a grey arrow will preview which stations you are connecting.
Secondly, I'm pleased to announce the first "beta" version of the ExploreBeijing subway map at www.explorebj.com. You can use the "other cities" link in the top tabs to switch city. The ExploreBeijing map isn't yet complete, notably:
No first train/last train data for the new lines 8, 10 and Airport Express (which open later this month)
The Shanghai metro map has had a minor update. It now uses the latest (June 2008) price grid for calculating the price of a route. The first and last train times have also been updated to be more accurate.
A quick piece of trivia for you: the longest possible journey between two stations on the Shanghai Metro is the roughly two and a half hour trip between Gangcheng Road (Line 6) and Songjiang Xincheng (Line 9). On the bright side, it will only cost you 9 RMB!
In particular, you can see the longer opening times on several lines (to see the first/last trains from a station, simply click on the circle for that station).
Also, the new "virtual transfers" have been added to the routeplanner. The routeplanner always chooses the fastest route, including time taken to walk between platforms, so it will only recommend a virtual transfer if it will save you time!
Micah Sittig reports on changes to the Shanghai metro starting June 1st. There are three main changes
Firstly, lines 1, 4, 5, 6 and 9 will get slightly longer opening times. Hurrah!
Secondly, at three stations: Hongkou Football Stadium, Shanghai Railway Station and Yishan Road, there will be a new 'virtual transfer' option. These stations previously featured in the post Hall of shame: the interchanges that aren’t, since at these stations in order to change lines, it is necessary to leave the station, take a long walk, re-enter the station and buy a new ticket. Now, passengers with a Shanghai Public Transportation card will be able to transfer between the separated platforms without paying for an extra ticket. Hurrah! The long walk will remain.
Thirdly, elderly passengers with special cards will be able to travel at off-peak hours for free. Hurrah!
The ExploreShanghai metro map will receive an update soon to reflect the new interchanges and timings. There will be a new post on this blog when the update goes live.
