Shanghai Metro transports 662m people during summer travel

Hordes of passengers line up for a ride on metro lines 3 and 4. [Photo/eastday.com]

The Shanghai Metro has experienced a booming summer travel season — transporting a whopping 662 million passengers from July 1 to Aug 31.

That's according to statistics released by operator Shanghai Shentong Metro Group, based in the city.

With daily passenger flows averaging 10.67 million people, the city's metro system has been a vital transportation mode for locals and tourists alike. What's more, for 10 days the daily volume actually exceeded 12 million passengers.

During this period, several metro lines witnessed a significant surge in passenger flows — with Line 14, Line 2 and Line 10 experiencing increases of 8.9 percent, 5.88 percent and 4.68 percent respectively.

Most notably, Line 14 emerged as a star performer — breaking the record for the highest single-day passenger flows on four separate occasions.

The top three stations that handled the biggest two-way passenger flows were People's Square, Century Avenue and Hongqiao Railway Station — with daily averages of 486,000, 452,000, and 395,000 passengers respectively.

One of the biggest magnets for summer travel was without question the Bund, drawing crowds to stations like East Nanjing Road Station, which experienced peak traffic every Saturday.

On July 27 alone, 294,800 individuals boarded and disembarked at this station, underscoring its popularity among commuters and tourists.

Comparing this year's figures to the previous year, a noticeable trend emerged where new business districts and museums attracted a significant number of passengers — leading to increased footfalls at nearby metro stations such as Zhenru, Longyao Road and Shanghai Science and Technology Museum.

Noteworthy shifts were also observed in passenger flows at stations near transportation hubs, with most experiencing a rise in traffic except for Shanghai South Railway Station.

Shanghai Railway Station saw a 2.29 percent year-on-year increase in daily passenger flows, while Shanghai Hongqiao Railway Station recorded a 0.53 percent uptick. Compared with the pre-summer travel period, both stations witnessed a hefty rise in traffic, with increases of 10.52 percent and 10.72 percent respectively.

Source: eastday.com