Pudong Airport to the city: which option should you take?
Take Metro Line 2 if you want the cheapest ride into town. Take the maglev if you want the fast train and don't mind a transfer: it ends at Longyang Road Station, and Line 2 is the only transfer line the airport pages name. Take a taxi if you want a door-to-door ride at any hour. Pudong (PVG) is about 30 km from downtown Shanghai, according to the Shanghai government's airport transport page, which is sourced from the Shanghai Airport Authority and was updated June 4, 2026.
Pudong has two terminals. A free shuttle bus runs between them 24 hours a day, every 10 to 15 minutes. If you land at one terminal and your bus or taxi leaves from the other, use it. The airport pages don't give walking directions from the arrival halls to the maglev or metro stations.
For the city itself, see our Shanghai travel guide. The entry form is covered in our China arrival card guide.
Pudong Airport maglev: hours, price and where it stops
The maglev runs between Pudong Airport Terminal 1 and 2 station and Longyang Road Station. Longyang Road is where you get off and change to Metro Line 2 for the city. The Airport Authority's maglev pages (Chinese page updated August 13, 2025; English page March 17, 2025) give the same hours and fares.
Maglev hours
- Pudong Airport to Longyang Road: 07:02 to 21:42.
- Longyang Road to Pudong Airport: 06:45 to 21:40.
The two directions differ, so don't plan an airport departure for 06:45. The maglev operator's time-table page (an image with no date on it) gives 20 minutes between trains from the airport. From Longyang Road it is every 15 minutes from 06:45 to 07:00, then every 20 minutes from 07:00 to 21:40. Doors close 1 minute before departure. Ticket checking stops 5 minutes before the last train leaves, so for the 21:42 train that is around 21:37. The top speed is given as 300 km/h. Neither the airport pages nor the operator give a journey time.
Maglev ticket prices
- Regular seat: 50 yuan one-way, 80 yuan return. A return ticket is valid for seven days from sale.
- VIP seat: 100 yuan one-way, 160 yuan return.
- Maglev plus metro one-day pass: 55 yuan with a single maglev ride, 85 yuan with a return maglev ride. The metro part allows unlimited rides during operating hours within 24 hours of first tapping into the metro.
- Children: those 1.3 m or under ride free with an adult. Preschool children can't ride alone.
A single ticket is valid on the day and at the station where you buy it. The operator's fare page says its discounts can't be combined.
Does the Shanghai maglev take foreign bank cards (Visa, Mastercard)?
The maglev operator's Chinese fare page says yes, with conditions. Item 11 says a Visa, Mastercard, American Express or JCB contactless chip card (the page prints it as JGB) can be tapped at the gate for a regular single ticket at 50 yuan, if the card has small-amount no-PIN payment enabled. The page doesn't say how to switch that on, or whether every foreign-issued card has it.
The operator's English fare page is older wording and doesn't have this item. It doesn't list Visa, Mastercard, American Express or JCB cards. When the two pages differ, the Chinese one is the more complete. Neither page says which payment methods the ticket machine or counter accept. For cash and cards in general, see Is cash accepted in China?
Maglev discount with a flight ticket: how it works
Both operator fare pages give 20 percent off a single ticket when you show your same-day flight ticket. The Chinese page says ε «ζ, which makes the regular single 40 yuan. Each flight ticket gets one discounted ticket. The sentence sits under the VIP item on both pages, but it says single ticket, and the ride-guide page prices the discounted regular single at 40 yuan.
The ride-guide page explains where to buy it:
- At the self-service machine, the 40-yuan ticket is sold against flight details booked on Ctrip (ζΊη¨). You can't buy more discounted tickets than flight tickets.
- If your proof of booking comes from somewhere other than Ctrip, go to the staffed ticket counter.
- Any ticket type other than the regular single also goes through the staffed counter.
The pages say "same-day" flight ticket. They don't say whether an arriving flight counts, or what proof an arriving passenger should show. Tapping a foreign card at the gate is charged the 50-yuan regular single fare, not 40, and the fare page says discounts can't be combined.
Metro Line 2 from Pudong Airport to People's Square
Both Pudong terminals are served by Metro Line 2. The ride from Pudong Airport Terminal 1 and 2 station to People's Square Station (δΊΊζ°εΉΏεΊ) is about one hour and costs about 7 yuan, according to the Shanghai government page. That makes it the most economical way, as that page puts it.
On the section from Guanglan Road to Pudong Terminal 1 and 2, trains average 3 minutes 45 seconds apart in the weekday peak 07:30 to 10:00, and 4 minutes 30 seconds in the 17:00 to 20:30 peak. On Saturday and Sunday the peak is 08:30 to 20:30, at 4 minutes. The Shanghai Metro timetable page has the other hours.
We don't list the Line 2 first and last train times at Pudong Airport here. Check the Shanghai Metro timetable or the station display on the day. The same page says tickets for a last train stop selling three minutes before it arrives. It also says Line 2 runs extended hours on Fridays and Saturdays, but not on the eastern extension from Guanglan Road to Pudong Airport. Holiday timetables are announced separately.
Pudong Airport buses: routes, fares and times
The airport's English bus page (updated April 22, 2026) lists five routes. The Chinese ground-transport page (updated May 31, 2026) lists six. The sixth is the Lingang DZ38 line. The times below are for reference only and can change with traffic.
| Route | Goes to | Pudong departures | Interval | Fare (yuan) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Airport Line 4 | Shanghai Railway Station (North Square) | T1 07:00-23:00, T2 07:03-23:03 | 20-70 min | 2-28 |
| Airport Line 7 | Shanghai South Railway Station | T1 07:30-23:00, T2 07:35-23:05 | 25-45 min | 4-20 |
| Airport Line 8 | Nanhui Bus Station | T1 07:00-20:40, T2 07:03-20:43 | Peak 15-60 min, off-peak 15-90 min | 1-10 |
| Airport Circle Line | Hangcheng Garden (stops around the airport) | T1 08:00-19:15, T2 08:03-19:18 | 30-45 min | 2 |
| Late Night Bus | Hongqiao Hub East Transportation Center | T1 23:00 to 05:30 next day, T2 23:03 to 05:33 | Adjusted to passenger flow, leaves when full at peak, at most 30 min | 18-34 |
| Lingang DZ38 (Chinese page only) | Dishuihu Hub | T2 08:00 and 18:30, T1 08:05 and 18:35 | Fixed departures | 20 |
The pages give fares as ranges and don't say which stop costs what. For the DZ38, the Chinese ground-transport page says you can reserve a departure through the Lingang travel mini-program (δΈ΄ζΈ―εΊθ‘ε°η¨εΊ), or call 021-60829566 for more information. The hotline for Line 4, the Circle Line and the Late Night Bus is 021-68346612. Line 7 is 021-51515519 and Line 8 is 021-61760338. The pages don't say whether the buses take foreign cards.
Pudong Airport taxi: where to find it and what it costs
The taxi stands work 24 hours.
- Terminal 1: outside Arrival Gate 12. If you come out at Arrival Gate 4 or 8, exit and walk south to Gate 12.
- Terminal 2: outside Arrival Gate 25.
The Shanghai government page puts a taxi to People's Square at around 180 yuan and about 50 minutes. That is an estimate, not a fare table.
The Airport Authority's taxi page lists the Shanghai urban fare rules (adjusted January 15, 2022; the page was updated April 16, 2024):
- Start price 14 yuan for the first 3 km, or 16 yuan for TuAn vehicles and Roewe Ei5 pure electric cars.
- 2.7 yuan for each km after that.
- Beyond 15 km, an extra 50 percent of the per-km fare.
- Night surcharge: from 23:00 up to but not including 05:00, the start price and per-km fare go up 30 percent.
- Holiday surcharge: 10 yuan per trip in the Spring Festival holiday, 5 yuan in the May Day and National Day holidays.
Landing late at night: what runs after the maglev stops?
The last maglev leaves the airport at 21:42, and the airport pages describe no night maglev. Line 2's last train at Pudong isn't given anywhere on those pages, so don't count on the metro for a very late arrival. What the airport lists after the maglev is this:
- Airport Line 4 and Line 7: Pudong departures run until 23:00 (Terminal 1), or until 23:03 and 23:05 (Terminal 2).
- Late Night Bus: from 23:00 (Terminal 1) or 23:03 (Terminal 2) until 05:30 or 05:33 next day, 18-34 yuan. It stops at Longyang Road Fangdian Road, Century Avenue Metro Station, East Yan'an Road Zhejiang Middle Road, Yan'an Middle Road Huashan Road and Yan'an West Road Hongxu Road, then ends at the Hongqiao Hub East Transportation Center. Hongqiao Airport Terminal 2 is also on Metro Line 2.
- Taxi: the stands work 24 hours. From 23:00 to before 05:00 the 30 percent night surcharge applies.
Late arrival
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