
The Evolution of China's Metro Systems - oftenwrong
http://pdovak.com/chinese-metro-evolution
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leejo
I spent the weekend in Shanghai a couple of months ago and used the Metro to
get around. It was modern, clean, on time, easy, and cheap - around €10 for an
unlimited 72 hour pass. I was astonished by its sprawl, some lines over 50km
and one close to 100km. It felt like it dwarfs London's tube.

Criticisms? It was clearly at or near capacity, which I guess explains the
rapid growth. There was a mass of security theatre, X-ray machines at the
entrances to some (most?) lines but lots of people were just ignoring the
attendants and walking quickly passed the machines without having their bags
checked. It seemed difficult (impossible?) to pay with anything but cash, at
least at the stations I visited all machines were cash only (I guess not so
modern after all).

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raptium
> It seemed difficult (impossible?) to pay with anything but cash

That's true and it is not convenient for visitors. Local people usually just
use public transportation card (magnetic/contact-less smart card) everyday and
don't have to pay with cash (you can charge the card with credit card or
Alipay). Some station gates also support paying with NFC smartphones (eg.
Xiaomi), and I think that's modern :-)

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pimlottc
It's not too hard, with a bit of diligence (and a phrasebook), to get a
contactless card as a foreigner. Although it is still easiest to add value
with cash through one of the station attendant booths.

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jpatokal
It will be interesting to see how long China's frenetic metro expansion lasts.
Japan went through a very similar phase after the war, but this slowed down
markedly after the Bubble burst. With population growth now strongly negative,
there's no business case for building more and Japan completed what's likely
its last line a few years ago.

[https://gyrovague.com/2015/12/18/the-last-subway-line-in-
jap...](https://gyrovague.com/2015/12/18/the-last-subway-line-in-japan/)
(Disclaimer: my blog)

China, too, faces an upcoming and likely even more severe population crunch.
India, on the other hand, is only just getting started and is now building
metros with a similar pace as China in the 1990s.

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em500
Just the increase of the urbanization degree from the current 56% to 70% in 10
to 15 years, as currently planned by the government, will increase the city
population by almost 200 million.

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cilea
I stayed in Shanghai, Tokyo, and Taipei over the summer last year. Taipei's
metro is the best overall; certainly not as crowded as the other two.
Convenience is about the same, i.e. payable by cash-loading debit cards.
Tokyo's metro have gotten old. I honestly think, a couple of Tokyo's
underground lines need to be replaced. Just remember, no food allowed in
transit.

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MachinShinn-
Don't expect much replacement in Tokyo. Japan is in maintenance mode as its
population ages and shrinks over the next century.

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lacampbell
Same will be true for China and Taiwan as well, very shortly. I hope for their
sake they're paying close attention to how Japan has dealt with a shrinking
population - Japan really has been the "pioneer" in a process that all
countries will have to inevitably go through.

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itazula
A little misleading in regard to, at least, Tokyo, as it shows only two lines,
Tokyo Metro and Toei. The transportation system is much, much vaster than only
those two lines.

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mempko
China is making a big bet. This is a great step towards increasing the quality
of life in those cities.

