Construction Construction of the line began on March 1, 2001, and public commercial service commenced on 1 January 2004. The Shanghai Transrapid project took ¥10 billion (US$1.33bn) and two and a half years to complete. The line is track and has a further separate track leading to a maintenance facility. The top operational commercial speed of the Shanghai maglev was , making it the world's fastest train in regular commercial service from its opening in April 2004 until its speed reduction in May 2021. The Shanghai Maglev has a length of , a width of , a height of and a three-class, 574-passenger configuration (End section (ES) 1st class: 56; Middle section (MS) 2nd class: 110; End section (ES) 2nd class: 78). China-Shanghai_(2024)_Maglev_train_-_img_03.jpg|A Shanghai Maglev at
Longyang Road station Digital readout of maximum speed of Shanghai Maglev, 431km per hr.jpg|Speed indicator shown in each car Shanghai Maglev speed.jpg|Shanghai Maglev speed The train set model (Transrapid SMT) was built by a joint venture of
Siemens and
ThyssenKrupp from
Kassel, Germany in 3 pieces (originally 4 pieces consisting of 6 wagons each were planned) and based on years of tests and improvements of their
Transrapid maglev system, especially the
Transrapid 08. The Shanghai Maglev track (guideway) was built by local Chinese companies who, as a result of the
alluvial soil conditions of the Pudong area, had to deviate from the original track design of one supporting column every to one column every , to ensure that the guideway meets the stability and precision criteria. Several thousand
concrete piles were driven to depths up to to attain stability for the support column foundations. A mile-long, climate-controlled facility was built alongside the line's right of way to manufacture the guideways. The train was manufactured in Germany by Siemens-Thyssenkrupp JV (Joint venture). The
electrification of the train was developed by Vahle, Inc. Two commercial maglev systems predated the Shanghai system: the
Birmingham Maglev in the United Kingdom and the Berlin
M-Bahn. Both were low-speed operations and closed before the opening of the Shanghai maglev train. The train was inaugurated in December 2002 by the
German chancellor,
Gerhard Schröder, and the Chinese premier,
Zhu Rongji. Initial opening was for tour only, providing a round trip. The train starts from Longyang Rd. Station, speed up to and arrives at Pudong Airport. After a very short break, the train returns without opening the door. The price was 150
RMB for normal seats and 300 RMB for VIP seat. The normal operation started on 10 October 2003. Since 2010, a fourth train of Chinese production (made by Chengdou Aircraft Industries) has been added to the rolling stock. Its design slightly differs from the original Transrapid-trains: separated front lights below the shortened front-windows (instead of being placed behind the windows) and interior design.
Plans for a Maglev network in China Hans-Dieter Bott, vice president of
Siemens that won the contract to build the rail link, stated that "Transrapid views the Shanghai line, where the ride will last just eight minutes, largely as a sales tool. This serves as a demonstration for China to show that this works and can be used for longer distances, such as Shanghai to Beijing". Later, however, the decision was made to implement the
Beijing–Shanghai high-speed railway with conventional high-speed technology. Plans for a shorter maglev extension from Longyang Road to Hangzhou, the
Shanghai–Hangzhou maglev line, have been suspended. Speculation that a line would be built from Shanghai to Beijing mounted in 2002. It would cover a distance of about , at an estimated cost of £15.5bn. In 2023 and 2024, Guangzhou proposed the Beijing-Hong Kong-Macao and Shanghai-Shenzhen-Guangzhou maglev lines, The Shanghai-Shenzhen-Guangzhou line is planned to connect with Shanghai-Hangzhou line in
Ningbo railway station.
Plans for extensions of the Maglev line In January 2006, the Shanghai–Hangzhou maglev line extension project was proposed by the Shanghai Urban Planning Administrative Bureau. The extension would continue the existing line towards
Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport, running via
Shanghai South railway station and the
Expo 2010 site, with a possible continuation towards Hangzhou. The extension would allow transferring between the two airports—located apart—in approximately 15 minutes. The section between the two Shanghai airports is also referred to as Airport express line. The plan for the extension to Hangzhou was first approved by the central government in February 2006, with a planned date of completion in 2010, to be built by
Germany's
Transrapid consortium (
ThyssenKrupp and
Siemens). Work was suspended in 2008, owing to public protests over radiation fears despite an environmental assessment by the Shanghai Academy of Environmental Sciences saying the line was safe and would not affect air and water quality, and noise pollution could be controlled. In January and February 2008, hundreds of residents demonstrated in downtown Shanghai against the line being built close to their homes. The residents were reportedly concerned about potential health hazards, noise, and loss of property value. The Shanghai scheme has a buffer zone around the track that will be wide, which compares unfavourably with German standards that require houses to be away from the line. Representatives of the residents filed a formal request to demonstrate with the Shanghai Public Security Bureau, which was rejected. According to China Daily, as reported on People's Daily Online 27 February 2009, the Shanghai municipal government was considering building the maglev line underground to allay the public's fear of
electromagnetic pollution and the final decision on the maglev line had to be approved by the National Development and Reform commission. The total length would have been , of which would be within the City of Shanghai and in the province of
Zhejiang. Four stations would be built: at the
Expo 2010 site in east Shanghai; in south Shanghai;
Jiaxing; and east Hangzhou. The proposed design speed was , which would allow the train to travel the distance in just 27 minutes. The total budget of the project was to be 35 billion
RMB (about
US$5.0 billion as of April 2008). Another approval was granted in March 2010, with construction to begin in late 2010. The new link was to be long, longer than the original plan. The top speed was expected to be but limited to in built-up areas. In October 2010, the non-maglev
Shanghai–Hangzhou High-Speed Railway was opened, bringing travelling time between the two cities down to 45 minutes. Consequently, plans for a Maglev link have been suspended again. In 2020 and 2023, Zhejiang restarted planning for the Shanghai-Hangzhou maglev line, with an additional stop at Jiaxing North railway station.
Ridership Following the opening, overall maglev train ridership levels were at 20% of capacity. The levels were attributed to limited operating hours, the short length of the line, high ticket prices and that it terminates at Longyang Road in Pudong – another 20 min by subway from the city centre. • Traffic decreased significantly due to the opening of Shanghai metro line 2 east extension rail linking to Pudong Airport. Since then, annual traffic has stabilized to around 3 million in between 2011 and 2014; • In 2014 the maglev had 6.6% sharing ratio of landside transport in Pudong International Airport, a decrease from 11.3% in 2005 (metro had a share of 33% in 2014); • As of September 5, 2017, Shanghai Maglev trains have transported a total of 50 million passengers and safely operated 16.88 million kilometers. ==Operation==