As the Government of China had recently opened up the economy in the late 80's, which caused the population of the Shanghai Area to explode far beyond expectations. This was a warning signal for the municipality to develop more efficient transport, which the current roads could not achieve. 

With this in mind, the plans for the Shanghai metro were born. After many years of planning, the Shanghai Metro came to life on May 28th, 1993 with a mere 4 stations on the Line 1. 

This short length was actually quite short lived as China has an unprecedented speed in building any form of infrastructure, which meant:

• By the year 2000, the rapid transit system had reached a length of more than 62KM

• By 2005, the length crossed 118KM

• By 2010, during the time of the Shanghai Expo, it had crossed 405KM!

• By 2015, the length exceeded 545KM!

• By 2020, the length exceeded 676KM

• Currently in 2025, the length stands at a little over 805KM

1. Size: 

• The Shanghai Metro has 19 Metro Lines which spread over 800 KM, which makes it the 2nd largest metro network in the world. The long network ensures that every office and apartment is in walking distance, regardless of how much the city sprawls.

•  In fact, sometimes the metro stations and lines are built much before any development actually takes place, which is built in anticipation of demand rather than after demand.
  
  

2.  Frequency: 

• As the metro system serves one of the largest super-metropolitan areas in both Asia and the planet, the metro frequency has a peak frequency of 2-3 Minutes while off-peak is around 6 Minutes and above. 

• This allows for huge capacity and prevent overcrowding, while it ensures trust for users that they wont have to wait for a train.
  
  

3. Stations:

• The large network has around 500 stations. As the metro goes further away from the city center, the spacing between stations increases significantly.

• However this large gap between suburban stations will eventually reduce when more development takes place in the city.
  
  

4. Operating Hours: 

• The metro system does indeed have very long operating hours from the first trains starting at 5AM while the last trains depart at around 1AM, especially on the more busier lines 1 & 2. 

• They however do not have 24 Hour services since the extensive system requires high maintenence. In it's replacement, Shanghai has many night buses which cover the same routes
  
  

5. Modern Features: 

As the system has been built very recently, there are a lot of features which do not exist in older mass transit systems such as those of London & Paris. The features include platform doors, CCTV surveillance and larger capacity stations/trains.  

The amazing speed of construction in China is not because of magic, but because a certain set of factors that play together to propel this "magic". 

The following are the key reasons to why any form of Construction happens practically "Overnight" in China:

1. High Government Control: 

• China being a Communist Nation, the government has very different powers as compared to countries such as United States and Australia, where democratic laws & bureaucracy slow down even the smallest of projects. 

• Land in China can be acquired at the wish of the government, which boosts up construction speed. Most major construction projects in other nations are slowed down by land acqusitions, protests from society & trade unions fighting for workers rights, which rarely happens in China.
  
  

2. Low Construction Costs:

• In addition to its locally manufactured materials, building supplies, and transportation networks, the country has a large pool of talent available for all types of construction. 

• Because of this, construction costs are kept much cheaper than in Western nations, where laws, labor, and the importation of materials push up costs.

• In contrast to many metro systems in the world, the future of Shanghai Metro is bright. This is one of the few systems which was built in the first place, then rapidly expanded, kept modernizing, and in the end the people of the city gave their full support to it.
  
  

• Not every metro system in the world receives this form of blessing as some cities never formalize their metro plans, or go overboard with their budget, while some metro systems take too long/too slow to open.
  
  

• As the city keeps on expanding and urbanizing, the ultimate plan for the metro expansion will take the length of the metro from 800KM up to beyond 1200KM. This amazing length will include multiple extensions, more new lines and many suburban lines.