A journey on the Shanghai Maglev train from Shanghai Airport to the city centre

The Shanghai Maglev runs between Pudong International Airport and Longyang Road Station in Shanghai city centre. Completed in 2002, it wasn't built to solve a transport need but rather to showcase the advanced technology and boost Shanghai's international profile. It's the only high-speed maglev line in commercial service. 

Although capable of running up to 431km/h, the typical operational speed is around 300km/h, a speed which is only maintained for about 50 seconds due to the short route. The distance between the two stations is approximately 30km, and the journey lasts between 7 and 8 minutes. There are plenty of other ways to travel from the airport to Shanghai city centre, but if you want to have a unique experience then the Shanghai Maglev is definitely the way to go! 

What is a maglev train?

A maglev train is a train which levitates above the tracks using magnets instead of wheels, which means that it can travel very fast with little friction. However both the trains and tracks are expensive to build, and there are only a very few short commercial lines worldwide. It's a technology which has a lot of potential for high speed long distance travel, but because of the significantly higher costs involved and greater energy consumption it hasn't yet realised its potential. 

Practicalities for travelling on the Shanghai Maglev train

The train travels between Pudong International Airport and Longyang Road Station, and trains run every 15-20 minutes throughout the day from around 7am to 9.40pm. You can check the exact timetable here - Shanghai Maglev timetable. From Longyang Road Station you can transfer to Metro lines 2, 7, 16 or 18 to reach downtown Shanghai, although we chose to travel by taxi to and from our hotel as we had several large suitcases.

The journey takes between 7 and 8 minutes, and even though you'll only be travelling at top speed for less than a minute, it still feels super fast! There's a display board in the carriage showing your current speed which is fascinating to watch.

You can buy your tickets when you arrive from ticket counters and self-service machines at the stations. We bought a round-trip ticket which is valid for return within 7 days using one of the ticket machines, the current price for this ticket is 80 yuan. We used Alipay to buy the tickets from the machine, which we had already installed on our phones before travelling to Shanghai. This was our first time attempting payment in China so it did take a little while to get it working, and if you are planning to visit China from another country you definitely need to do some research into payment methods so you are all set up before you arrive.

When you've bought the tickets you then use them to enter the gates which take you to a waiting area and there is also a security screening area. In the airport waiting area there is a model of the train along with some information boards.

At the station, when the train is close to arriving you are directed by staff down to the platform. There is a marked out queuing area, and then it's easy to board once the train arrives. It was a lot less chaotic than our experiences of using the Shanghai Metro, and it wasn't busy on either of our journeys. The seats have plenty of space around them for suitcases, or else there are large luggage storage areas at the ends of the carriages. 

There are no stops on the way, it's just a direct train between the stations. There are some great views along the way, and you can definitely feel the speed that you are travelling! It's something that you can't experience in many places around the world, so if you are visiting Shanghai I would definitely recommend it.