A couple of announcements this week: the Shanghai Metro announced that work was underway on three new lines: Metro Line 12, Line 13 and Line 16, as well as an extension to the existing Line 11.

Line 12, linking the northeast of the city to the southwest, will have 32 stations along 40 kilometers, passing through eight districts. Passengers will be able to transfer to Line 1 and 13 at Hanzhong Road Station, to Line 2 and 13 at Nanjing Road W. Station and to Line 1 and 10 at Shaanxi Road S. Station.

Line 13 will include 14 stations, with 16 kilometers of track stretching from suburban Jiading District to downtown Jing’an District. Three stops on Line 13 were in operation during the World Expo last year. The full line is expected to include this section, and extend to Pudong New Area, said the authority.

Line 16, which will have 13 stations, will mainly operate in Pudong’s Nanhui area. It will connect to Line 2 and 7 at Longyang Road and end at Lingang New City.

In addition to the three new lines, the authority is extending Line 11. Its 21-kilometer second phase stretches from Jiangsu Road Station, crossing the Huangpu River and linking to Pudong’s Luoshan Road Station.

Not to be outdone, Beijing announced EIGHT lines were now under construction, all scheduled to open between 2013 and 2015, including the world’s first “low-speed” maglev line.

ExploreMetro will soon be making an exciting announcement of it’s own! Our iPhone apps will soon support the iPad (and of course, the iPad 2)! Check out the video for a preview!

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