Riding the Shanghai Maglev at 431 km/h

What happens in the video

Wayne Yeung's video, posted in December 2015, is an invitation to take a seat. The creator rides the Shanghai Maglev from Longyang Road station in the city to Pudong International Airport, and in his description he says the 30-kilometer journey took just under seven and a half minutes, with the train reaching its top speed of 431 km/h. The video's thumbnail shows the sleek white train waiting at a platform under a curved roof.

The creator also points viewers to the 4:50 mark, where, he writes, two maglev trains pass each other at about 350 km/h. With both trains moving that fast in opposite directions, the encounter lasts only a moment. The whole video is just under eight minutes long, roughly the length of the trip itself.

How the Shanghai Maglev works, and how fast it runs today

A maglev has no wheels running on rails. As the Pudong government's visitor page explains, maglev trains levitate above the track and are pushed forward by electromagnetic force, which is what allows such high speeds with a very smooth ride. The Shanghai line started operating on January 29, 2004, and the district describes it as the first commercial high-speed maglev railway in the world. It links Longyang Road, in the Pudong district, with Pudong International Airport.

The 431 km/h in the video title was never an all-day speed. In 2017 the Pudong government's timetable listed 430 km/h only in two daytime windows, 9 to 10:45 a.m. and 1 to 4:45 p.m., with 300 km/h the rest of the day. Riders today should not expect the record figure at all: a September 2025 Trip.com guide gives the design speed as 430 km/h but the normal operating speed as around 300 km/h, with the trip taking about 8 minutes. That puts it in the same range as the cruising speed of China's fastest bullet trains.

For a sense of how smooth China's conventional high-speed trains have become, compare this with the coin balancing on a Fuxing bullet train at 350 km/h.

How to ride the Shanghai Maglev

The maglev is most useful as an airport transfer for travelers flying into or out of Shanghai Pudong. Longyang Road is not in the city center, so plan on changing to the metro there: the station connects with Metro Lines 2, 7, 16 and 18, and the airport station connects with Line 2.

• Paying: Trip.com reports that ticket counters take cash, Alipay and WeChat Pay, and that UnionPay, Visa and Mastercard bank cards work at the gates at the standard fare. China's official 2026 guide for foreign visitors confirms that tap-to-ride with overseas bank cards covers both the maglev and Shanghai's urban metro lines.
• Flight discount: To get the 40-yuan fare, buy at the counter or ticket machine and have your same-day flight ticket ready; card taps at the gate are charged the standard fare.
• Hours: Trip.com lists the first train at 6:45 a.m. from Longyang Road and 7:02 a.m. from the airport, and the last trains at about 9:40 p.m. Landing late? You will need the metro or a taxi instead.

Our metro guide covers tapping in with a foreign card and using transit QR codes, and the Alipay and WeChat Pay guide explains how to set up mobile payment before you land.

Mandarin for the maglev and the airport

The free tickets and station entry lesson covers buying a ticket and paying by phone, the last train lesson helps if you land late, and the leaving the airport lesson and platforms and transfers lesson get you from the arrivals hall to the right train.