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Shanghai, Tokyo and Seoul have the world largest subway system, first class highway, and great airports. In your view, which city has the best infrastructure in general?
Tokyo's infrastructure is older, but how is the infrastructure for EVERY SINGLE ONE of Shanghai's 20 million or so? I mean sure, it has very advanced showy large-scale infrastructure, but what about the average home.etc? Dunno about Seoul, it seems a lot more modern than Tokyo in some respects.
I haven't been to Tokyo or Seoul. Shanghai has the best infrastructure in the Mainland. I would say it is comparable to HK. A weak point is that there is no rapid transit between the city center and airports.
Also, in rush hours, it is too crowded. I don't know why it is more crowded in Shanghai's subway than in HK. HK apparently is much denser than SH.
Quote:
Originally Posted by The Postman
Tokyo's infrastructure is older, but how is the infrastructure for EVERY SINGLE ONE of Shanghai's 20 million or so? I mean sure, it has very advanced showy large-scale infrastructure, but what about the average home.etc? Dunno about Seoul, it seems a lot more modern than Tokyo in some respects.
I haven't been to Tokyo or Seoul. Shanghai has the best infrastructure in the Mainland. I would say it is comparable to HK. A weak point is that there is no rapid transit between the city center and airports.
Also, in rush hours, it is too crowded. I don't know why it is more crowded in Shanghai's subway than in HK. HK apparently is much denser than SH.
Been to all three and I would say Tokyo. While crowded, it at least is more bearable as it's cleaner and people follow the rules more. Seoul is a close 2nd and Incheon airport is better than both Narita and Pudong airports. Shanghai's infrastructure is newer, but taking a train from Shanghai Train Station is a nightmare. Someone's spit almost hit me while lining up to buy train tickets inside the ticket office.
I used Shanghai metro daily several years ago, never experienced what you said. Anyway, it is too crowded and sometimes it is a pain to make the transfer.
I do like the high speed rail in China. It is very pleasant and super fast. A trip between Shanghai and Nanjing, which is 300 kilo meters apart, takes only 90 minutes. A similar trip in Europe takes at least 3 hours.
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Originally Posted by GoldenTiger
Been to all three and I would say Tokyo. While crowded, it at least is more bearable as it's cleaner and people follow the rules more. Seoul is a close 2nd and Incheon airport is better than both Narita and Pudong airports. Shanghai's infrastructure is newer, but taking a train from Shanghai Train Station is a nightmare. Someone's spit almost hit me while lining up to buy train tickets inside the ticket office.
I used Shanghai metro daily several years ago, never experienced what you said. Anyway, it is too crowded and sometimes it is a pain to make the transfer.
I do like the high speed rail in China. It is very pleasant and super fast. A trip between Shanghai and Nanjing, which is 300 kilo meters apart, takes only 90 minutes. A similar trip in Europe takes at least 3 hours.
I did not experience it in the Shanghai Metro. It's in the Shanghai Railway Station, when I was buying train tickets to go to Suzhou. High speed rail is pretty nice and had no problems once inside the train. The time I was traveling there was almost Qingming Festival and the train station was just overflowing with people going back to their hometowns.
Yes. That is normal. train stations in China cities are terrible. the majority of the travelers are immigrant workers from rural areas. So not much civilisation.
There are now three railway stations in Shanghai. The one in HONGQIAO is better as most of the travelers are business travellers.
Quote:
Originally Posted by GoldenTiger
I did not experience it in the Shanghai Metro. It's in the Shanghai Railway Station, when I was buying train tickets to go to Suzhou. High speed rail is pretty nice and had no problems once inside the train. The time I was traveling there was almost Qingming Festival and the train station was just overflowing with people going back to their hometowns.
Been to all three and I would say Tokyo. While crowded, it at least is more bearable as it's cleaner and people follow the rules more. Seoul is a close 2nd and Incheon airport is better than both Narita and Pudong airports. Shanghai's infrastructure is newer, but taking a train from Shanghai Train Station is a nightmare. Someone's spit almost hit me while lining up to buy train tickets inside the ticket office.
The OP asked about infrastructure, not how people behave. You are mixing your personal feelings with fixed infrastructure. Let's leave the people aside. I agree transit at the train station confusing. People get lost frequently.
Haven't been to Seoul, but I am familiar with Shanghai and Tokyo enough. I would say Tokyo still has the edge. Its transit system although older, functions more efficiently. Althought being a larger city, Tokyo's subway is less crowded as well. Also, it doesn't solely depend on subway and there is a rather extensive rail system too. The signage system is excellent and it is always easy to find direction. On the other hand, a few exchange stations are awkward and you have to walk quite far. Otemachi is an example.
Narita airport is not as nice as Pudong. The N'ex train is super nice but too far away from Tokyo and costs too much (in the order of $20). I don't know why someone says there is no rapid transit between Shanghai and PVG. PVG is directly accessible via subway line 2, which takes you right to the city centre (Lujiazui, People's square, Jin'an Temple etc). You also have the option to take the maglev if interested.
Tokyo still leads because it had a much longer time to develope and mature. Shanghai is improving rapidly. They are installing restrooms, accessible entries, protective doors along the track etc. Easy access to high speed train completed with a matter of few years.
Shanghai still has plenty of room to improve, particularly on the details. For example, too often I find the bus drivers drive too recklessly. And a few times they close the door too soon (some seniors move slowly). All these need to be changed.
There are a lot of similarities between the two cities. Building form is similar although Tokyo doesn't have many skyscrapers. Both cities have quite a few major transit/commercial nodes where people congregated, instead of having one big downtown like north American cities. Line 4 in Shanghai is exactly the same as the Yamanote line (both ring lines with the same number of stops and distance). I am pretty sure Shanghai was taking Tokyo as an example when designing its subway system.
Compared with the systems in these cities, here in Toronto, the biggest city in a rich country, the transit system looks like it is from the 1980s. Trains incur problems every few days. No fare card (need to use archaic token for access). only two lines. Super expensive for not much coverage and service. I think developed countries are left behind.
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