Hongqiao Railway Station to open July 1st

The Shanghai Metro company has announced that Hongqiao Railway Station on Shanghai Metro Line 2 will open from July 1st.

The station is between the existing Line 2 stops at Hongqiao Airport Terminal 2 and East Xujing. This will provide easy access for passengers on the new Shanghai-Nanjing bullet train. The new high speed trains will reach Nanjing in just 73 minutes, also calling at Shanghai West Railway Station on Line 11.

There are big future plans for Hongqiao Railway Station, part of the new Hongqiao Transportation Hub. Hongqiao Railway Station will also be the terminal station of Metro Line 10 once the Hongqiao branch opens later in the year. It will also be the terminus of the future Beijing-Shanghai High-Speed Rail Line.

Expect updates to our online map and iPhone app shortly!

Lonely Planet’s Top 5 China apps

We were listed in Lonely Planet’s “Top 5 China apps“!

3. Explore Metro Maps (US$0.99)
Explore puts out metro maps for Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Hong Kong. They’re easy to use, up to date (no easy feat in Shanghai) and work offline. Very handy, especially when they’ve run out of paper maps at the stations.

Thanks for the mention guys! You can download our iPhone apps here

Now hiring developers and designers in Shanghai!

Do you like ExploreMetro? Want to work on similar cool apps for iPhone? My company ReignDesign, a multicultural mobile development and design agency, is currently looking for several positions to fill in Shanghai. Local and foreign candidates are welcome to apply.

If you have iPhone developer experience, we’re looking for a Mobile Developer. If you’re experienced with Photoshop and Illustrator, we’re looking for a Designer. You can check out the full list of jobs here.

Tell a friend, win an iPad!

It’s our best competition yet! Anyone who downloads one of our awesome iPhone metro maps has a chance to win an Apple iPad!

Here’s how it works:

  1. Go to www.exploremetro.com/iphone and download the iPhone app for your favorite city
  2. On your iPhone/iPod, start the app and go to the Help tab
  3. Enter your details and the email address of a friend to be entered in the draw!
  4. Invite more friends for extra chances to win!

EXCLUSIVE: Shanghai Metro Line 10 full operation from June 12th

At last! Explore Metro can exclusively reveal that Shanghai’s Metro Line 10 will open for full operation from June 12th. Since it opened earlier this year the line has been constrained to an inconvenient 9am – 4pm schedule. From Saturday the opening times should be in line with other services. We’ll have an update shortly with the first/last train informations on our online map and iPhone app.

UPDATE – we spoke too soon. The schedule has still not been extended. Expect an announcement in the next few weeks.

Get Explore Singapore for free! Pi Caw Sai!

For one week only you can grab a copy of Explore Singapore, our MRT map for iPhone absolutely free! Explore Singapore is fully up to date, including the latest extension to the Circle Line which opened last month. You can search for stations, find the nearest station using your iPhone’s GPS, and plan routes, all using our really simple interface.

Download Explore Singapore from the iTunes App Store today! Our FREE offer ends Sunday June 13th.

Interview with China Global Times

I was recently interviewed by Chris Chagnon of the China Global Times about why I created the ExploreMetro websites and apps, my love of metro maps and plans for the future 🙂

You have a new map of the Tokyo Subway coming online this year; do you have future plans for expansion?

My plan for world domination is, of course, a secret, but my next target cities are Seoul and Taipei. There are also scores of first and second tier cities in China that are currently building metros, so I think I’m going to be busy.

Read the full article here: Tube topographer

What’s the busiest metro line in Shanghai?

On Friday, the Shanghai Metro company announced that daily passenger numbers had again broken the daily record, surpassing 6 million. They also provided line-by-line numbers so it’s possible to see the numbers of passengers using the different lines:

Clearly Lines 1 and 2 are the most popular, with over 1 million each.  Line 4 and Line 8 are the next most popular. Of the lines which opened in 2010, Line 7 is already seeing almost half a million daily passengers.