The Airport Link Line: Pudong to Hongqiao in 40 minutes
Last verified: 2026-08-28
Shanghai’s newest railway connects both airports directly — 40 minutes, ¥26, and you can tap through the gate with a foreign bank card.
What it is
Opened in late December 2024, the Airport Link Line is a 160 km/h express railway running from Pudong Airport (T1 & T2) to Hongqiao (Terminal 2 station, inside the Hongqiao hub, connected to the high-speed rail station) with five stops in between — including the Disney Resort area. End to end takes about 40 minutes; the same trip on Metro Line 2 takes roughly an hour and a half.
Fares are distance-based: ¥4 minimum, ¥26 for the full run. Trains leave roughly every 15 minutes, from 6:00 in the morning until the last departures in the late evening — check the station timetable for the exact last train before you cut it close.
How to pay — no app required
Since mid-2025, Shanghai’s entire rail network — Airport Link Line and Maglev included — accepts foreign bank cards directly at the gate: tap a Visa, Mastercard, American Express, JCB or UnionPay contactless card (or the same card in your phone wallet) and the fare settles automatically.
Two catches worth knowing: your card needs contactless small-payment approval turned on (some banks ship with it off), and a few older card types are not supported. Fallbacks are painless — ticket machines take cash, and the station service centre sells tickets on a normal card terminal.
When it beats the alternatives
Landing at Pudong and staying on the Hongqiao side — Gubei, Hongqiao business district, or anywhere near a trade fair at the NECC — the Link Line is now the obvious move. For central Shanghai (People’s Square, the Bund, the former French Concession), a taxi or the Maglev-plus-Line-2 combination usually wins on total time. See the full airport-to-city comparison guide.