The Beach Express: Shanghai Metro Line 22 to Jinshan set for December opening

Shanghai Metro Line 22 will connect Shanghai South Railway Station with Jinshan, home of the closest sandy beach to downtown Shanghai. Not that it will likely be beach-going weather when the line opens in late December, 2011.

UPDATE: the Jinshan Railway finally opened in September 2012!

The new line will have 9 stations, connecting with Line 1 and 3 at Shanghai Railway Station, and Line 1 and Line 5 at a new transport hub at Xinzhuang in Minghang District. The line then heads south into Songjiang and Jinshan Districts. The stations, from north to south:

• 上海南站 Shanghai South Railway Station (interchange with Line 1 and Line 3)
• 莘庄 Xinzhuang (interchange with Line 1 and Line 5)
• 春申 Chunshen
• 新桥 Xinqiao
• 闵西 Minxi
• 叶榭 Yexie
• 亭林 Tinglin
• 阮巷 Ruanxiang
• 金山 Jinshan

The line is 56.4km long. There will be some direct trains which travel the line in 30 minutes, while trains stopping at every station will take 50 minutes. Trains will travel at up to 160km/h on the new line, over twice as fast as on regular metro lines.