This article originally appeared on our sister website, Urban Family Shanghai.
By Yuzhou Hu
For those who sometimes visit neighboring provinces for a scenic getaway, one of the biggest hassles is paying for public transport in a new city. Since the IC card is different, and no one seems to carry small coins anymore, you can get stuck trying to buy the ticket. Well, this won't be an issue anymore because the Shanghai Metro has announced it will connect its payment system with Hangzhou's and Ningbo's, reports Shine.
According to the Shanghai Shentong Metro Group, they have developed a partnership with the operators of Hangzhou and Ningbo Metros. Commuters from Shanghai can use the official Metro Daduhui app, which made its debut this January, at the turnstiles of Hangzhou and Ningbo. At the same time, tourists from the two cities can use their Metro apps in Shanghai. The service will be available as early as the end of the year.
Hangzhou Metro. Image via Wikipedia
It turns out the cooperation among the three cities is under the guidance of a national strategy which calls for the integrated development of the Yangtze River Delta (Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Anhui). Covering an area of 211,700 square kilometers, the region is expected to become a world-class city cluster by 2030. An official office has been established to direct and supervise the further development.
The office has advised the cooperation between the cities will work as a test run. In the future, the collaboration will be extended to more cities in the delta region, including Suzhou, Nanjing, Wuxi, Changzhou, Wenzhou and Hefei.
Ningbo Meto. Image via Wikipedia
The cities from the Yangtze River Delta will become closer in other ways as well. For instance, a high-speed train pegged to launched by the end of the year, will connect Hangzhou and Yellow Mountain (Huangshan) in 1.5 hours. In addition, a new Suzhou subway line directly linked to the Shanghai Metro has been approved, with an anticipated 2023 completion date.
[Cover image via The Paper]
This article was originally published by our sister magazine Urban Family Shanghai. For more articles like this, visit the Urban Family website, or follow the Urban Family WeChat account (ID: urbanfamilyshanghai).
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