Shanghai Hongqiao Railway Station (simplified Chinese: 上海虹桥站; traditional Chinese: 上海虹橋站; pinyin: Shànghǎi Hóngqiáo Zhàn) is one of the four major railway stations in Shanghai, China, the others being Shanghai Railway Station, Shanghai South Railway Station, and Shanghai West Railway Station. With a total area of 1.3 million square meters, it is the largest railway station in Asia.[1]
Shanghai Hongqiao Railway Station, located in Minhang District of Shanghai, is a major part of the Hongqiao Comprehensive Transportation Hub (“the Hongqiao hub”). The station achieves a zero-distance transfer with the Terminal 2 of Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport, as well as Line 2 and Line 10 of Shanghai Metro.

Overview

The construction of the railway station began on July 20, 2008 with a total investment of more than CNY 15 billion ($2.3 billion). It was opened on July 1, 2010, simultaneously with the opening of the Shanghai–Nanjing High-Speed Railway line. The railway station takes a total area of about 1.3 million square meters and has 16 platforms, most of which are high speed rail configuration.[2] The main building of the train station measures 420 meters in length, 200 meters in width, and 70 meters high (counting both underground and overground floors). 80,000 tons of steel was used to construct the train station, twice the amount of steel used to build the Beijing National Stadium (Bird nest). The train station waiting hall area is more than 10,000 square meters (107,639 square ft), and is capable of handling 10,000 passengers at the same time.

Station service

The station primarily serves as the Shanghai terminus of several high speed rail lines, including the Shanghai–Nanjing High-Speed Railway, the Shanghai–Hangzhou High-Speed Railway, and the Beijing–Shanghai High-Speed Railway, the most important high speed rail line in China. In addition, the station has some normal intercity lines as well.
Most long-haul non-high speed trains to the North and South of China depart from either the main Shanghai Railway Station or the Shanghai South Railway Station.