Eight minutes from PVG to Longyang Road at 430 km/h
The Shanghai Maglev Train Line runs between Shanghai Pudong International Airport and Longyang Road station in roughly 8 minutes, hitting peak speeds around 430 km/h on some departures. Trains run most of the day at 15–20 minute intervals, so you rarely wait long once you reach the platform. If you care more about speed than door-to-door convenience, this is the quickest rail link out of PVG.
The airport station sits near both T1 and T2, signed as “Maglev” in English and “磁浮” in Chinese, with walking time of about 5–10 minutes from most check-in areas. You ride only one stop to Longyang Road on Metro Line 2/7/16, then connect to the Shanghai Metro or a taxi for the last leg into areas like Lujiazui or People’s Square, which adds another 15–30 minutes depending on traffic and transfers.
Standard one-way Maglev tickets usually cost in the range of regular metro fares plus a premium, with occasional discounts for same-day flight passengers who show a boarding pass at the ticket counter. Trains typically run from early morning to late evening, but overnight arrivals after roughly 22:30–23:00 often miss the last departure and need to switch to taxi or regular metro Line 2 instead. Round-trip tickets are sold at the station machines and counters, and have a validity window you’ll see printed with a specific date.
Inside the Maglev cars, seats are fixed, airline-style, in open saloons with luggage racks at the carriage ends and overhead shelves big enough for standard 22-inch carry-ons. A digital speed display above the aisle shows the train ramping up past 300 km/h within a couple of minutes after leaving PVG. You can walk the full length of your car during the 8‑minute ride, but boarding and exit doors close fast, usually within 30–45 seconds of stopping.
At Longyang Road, you tap out at the Maglev gates, then follow signs to Metro Line 2 toward East Xujing or to the taxi rank outside, where queues can reach 15–20 minutes at weekday peaks around 18:00–20:00. If your hotel sits near a Line 2 or Line 7 station, sticking with metro saves money; if you’re headed to the Bund or a specific office block, a taxi for the last 6–10 km is often worth it.
Practical tip: If your flight lands before 21:30 and traffic into Puxi is heavy, take the Maglev to Longyang Road, then grab a taxi from there; you cut out about 30 km of highway and often save 15–25 minutes versus taxi from PVG.