Shanghai Pudong Airport High Speed Maglev Express Train - 12/2008 |
| Category: China - PRC | 2009-03-11 |
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Shanghai's high speed Maglev train is the first (and so far only) operational commercial maglev line in the world. Public service began on January 1, 2004. Since I was flying by myself from Shanghai on this trip, I thought it might be a good idea to try the Maglev instead of the usual taxi. I checked out from the Park Hyatt in Pudong at around 7am, and caught a taxi to the subway station that is the terminus of the Maglev. The taxi trip costed 30 yuan, and took about 20 minutes. |
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| The maglev line connects Shanghai's Pudong International Airport with the Longyang Road subway station. Although Longyang Road station is on the L2 subway line, the location of station is well out of the way of most people, and contributed significantly to the low ridership level of the Maglev. |
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| The maximum speed of the train while in service is approximately 430km/h. However, during the morning and evening hours (7-9am, and 5-9:30pm), the maximum speed is limited to 300 km/h. |
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| Boarding the Maglev is just like any normal modern train. |
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| Luggage racks are installed by the doors for storing your luggages. |
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| Inside each train is a digital display of the current time and speed of the train. |
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| The train accelerated from standing still to over 300 km/h in just over two minutes. While the ride is relatively smooth, it is a little more bumpy than the latest high speed line such as that between Beijing and Tianjian. |
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| The normal one way fare is 50 yuan. However, upon presentation of a valid international travel itinerary or boaridng pass, the one-way fare is discounted to 40 yuan. |
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| Top speed is only maintained for about five minutes before the train approaches Pudong International Airport and begins slowing down. |
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| The total journey time is only about eight minutes to travel the 30 km journey. |
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| The passenger load is pretty light, sometimes only around 20% of capacity. |
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| The Maglev station terminates at the Pudong Airport, a few minutes walk to either Terminal 1 or 2. |
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| The airlines operating out from both terminals are clearly posted. |
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User comments: | | 2009-03-20 13:06:54 (GMT-6) | Jet2K: | 小酣妮 (Little Honey), I am glad that you also took the Maglev, the view of the bund at night is definitely quite a treat! Enjoy your stay in Shanghai. | | 2009-03-20 07:14:26 (GMT-6) | 小酣妮: | Lizzy阿姨，小酣妮今天有坐這台跑很快，也癲得很厲害的磁浮列車喔，上海外灘的夜景真得好美喔！ | | 2009-03-12 22:33:06 (GMT-6) | 來地喵喵: | 看完這詳細的報導之後，心想：每回旅遊時，老爺一定粉忙碌喔！ |
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