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EconomyChina Economy

As China’s metro costs rise, Shanghai considers first fare increase since 2005

Surging operational costs and strained municipal budgets are forcing mainland transit authorities to review long-suppressed fares

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A man passes through a turnstile at a metro station in Shanghai. The city is considering raising fares for the first time in more than two decades. Photo: VCG via Getty Images
Mandy Zuoin Shanghai

Facing a sprawling railway network and mounting fiscal pressures, Shanghai’s economic planner is considering a fare increase for its subway system after 21 years, making it the latest mainland city to target price adjustments amid widespread operational losses in urban railway transit.

The city’s development and reform commission said on Wednesday that it would hold a public hearing on September 7 to review adjustments to its subway fare system, though no official proposal has been released detailing how much individual trips might increase.

Unlike Hong Kong’s MTR Corporation, which remains highly profitable through its “rail-plus-property” model, metro operators on the mainland, including Shanghai, have seen their bottom lines increasingly squeezed, according to their financial reports. Government subsidies continue to play a pivotal role in keeping the industry afloat.

Shanghai’s current fare structure – 3 yuan (44 US cents) for journeys up to 6km (3.7 miles), with an additional 1 yuan for every 10km beyond that – has been in place since 2005, making it one of the longest-running unchanged pricing regimes among major Chinese cities.

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