In the 1990s, as bridges and tunnels across the Huangpu river were built, the ferry service saw a sharp drop in ridership.

Most sampan ferries could only carry around 30-50 passengers and a one-way trip across the river would take around 30 minutes.

In addition, increasing number of large vessels and the strong currents on the river posed extra dangers for traditional sampan ferries.

In 1909, Pudong Embankment Rehabilitation Bureau [zh], a semi-official autonomous municipal administration, dredged several tributaries of the Huangpu River.

Two years later, the authorities launched a ferry line between Tongren Pier and Xigou (Qingningsi).

In 1927, the ownership of the Pudong ferry service was transferred to the newly established Shanghai Special Municipality.

[3] The Shanghai Ferry service was reduced to 3 lines due to the Second Sino-Japanese War.

As a result, some ferry lines were discontinued due to sharp drops in ridership.

People and bicycles began to fall into the river from the pushing and the scene quickly turned chaotic.

The station was closed 5 minutes later in order to disperse the crowd and commence rescue operations.

Built in 1992, the ferry is 155 metres in length, can carry up to 272 passengers and travels around 21 knots.