[2] Since the pandemic, ridership still routinely stands at over 10 million on an average workday, accounting for 73% of trips on public transport in the city.

Though actual construction and inauguration of the Shanghai Metro succeeded its counterparts in Beijing and Tianjin, their initial planning would date back to the same period, during the late 50s and early 60s, before the impact of the Cultural Revolution.

[11] In August 1964, the Tunnel Engineering section of the Municipal Urban Construction Bureau completed the route selection phase for the north-south line (later Line 1), which was eventually to connect key locations in the downtown core, including the Shanghai Cultural Square, People's Square and the then Shanghai North railway station, with the rapidly industrializing and urbanizing northern districts of Zhabei and Baoshan, including the industrial zone in Pengpu, the worker's residential area in Zhangmiao, and the town of Wusong.

However, construction halted during the immediately subsequent Cultural Revolution period, and no systematic plan to build an underground railway system materialized.

In 1983, a jointly-published "Proposal on the Construction of a North-South Rapid Rail Transit Line" by the Municipal Planning Committee, the Municipal Construction Committee, in collaboration with the Municipal Bureaus of Urban Planning, of Public Infrastructure, of Railways and of Public Works, called for a rail transit line to be built which connects the city center with Minhang and Jinshan in the south-southwest, and with Wusong and Baoshan in the north-northeast, clearly echoing the initial north-south line concept of the 1950s-60s, though couched in this period in terms of the City's new master plan to "develop both the north and the south wings.

"[12] Subsequently, in August 1985, a Project Planning Report submitted to the Municipal Planning Committee and the Municipal Committee on Urban and Rural Construction and Management by the Preparation Working Group on the North–South Rapid Rail Transit Line prioritizes the Xinlonghua-to-New railway station segment, and makes a conclusive case for the route of the previously-indeterminate middle segment of the line to be placed under Huaihai Road.

Formal central government-level approval of both the construction of Line 1 and a long-term system-wide plan for the Shanghai Metro came in 1986.

Part of that Master Plan included a 40-year phased program that would eventually see the construction of 11 metro lines covering over 325 km by 2025.

The full line (including middle and northern sections) eventually opened on April 10, 1995, and in the first year, it handled an average of 600,000 passengers daily.

Starting and stopping are automated, but a driver operates the doors, drives the train if needed and handles emergencies.

In the early 2000s, before the screen doors were installed, the annual suicide rate on the Shanghai subway system averaged about eight.

[80] Originally, platform screen doors were adopted to prevent cool or hot air from leaving the station to reduce electricity usage.

[85] Riders are subject to searches of their persons and belongings at all stations by security inspectors using metal detectors, X-ray machines.

Items banned from public transportation such as "guns, ammunition, knives, explosives, flammable and radioactive materials, and toxic chemicals" are subject to confiscation.

It also bans eating and drinking on subway cars nationwide, with exceptions for infants and people with certain medical conditions.

[90] Plasma screens on the platforms show passengers when the next two trains are coming, along with advertisements and public service announcements.

The metro operating company is resistant to expanding use of Shanghainese for announcing stops, on the basis that, on most lines, the majority of passengers can understand either Mandarin or English.

[41] Line 16, unlike the rest of the system, is built with passing loops and operates express and rapid services.

The system uses a "one-ticket network", which means that interchanging is possible between all interchange stations, given that the transfer staying within the Shanghai Metro system, without the purchase of another ticket where available, excluding some stations where transferring to another line at said station requires leaving the Fare Zone which mandates a Single-Journey Ticket be used before entering that of another line, requiring the purchase of another Single-Journey Ticket (Shanghai Public Transport Cards are exempt as they are not consumed upon exit).

Refunds can also be processed in the event of a train failure for more than 15 minutes, and the apology letter can be downloaded on the official website, WeChat public account and Metropolis app.

This RFID-embedded card can be purchased at selected banks, convenience stores and metro stations with a 20-yuan deposit.

This card can be loaded at ticket booths, Service Centers at the metro stations as well as many small convenience stores and banks throughout the city.

[112] Since June 3, 2013, the subway operator announced that all evaders will be recorded in the personal credit information system, which may lead to obstacles in loan applications and job hunting in the future.

At that time, the municipal government stipulated that Shanghai would purchase 300 C cars produced by the new company on lines 5, 6, and 8 of the future rail transit construction.

For this reason, the Transportation Research Institute had to "reduce" the predicted passenger flow to accommodate the C-class railcars, allowing for a reduction of the station's civil construction scope for the smaller trains.

In the construction of lines 5, 6, and 8, the railcars were not supplied by the completion of the tender, but by a signed agreement for the railcars after "internal consultation and coordination" between Shentong Group and Shanghai Alstom, a violation of Articles 3 and 4 of the Law of the People's Republic of China on Tendering and Bidding.

In 2010, to deal with the overcrowding Shanghai Metro hired passenger pushers to assist commuters boarding line 8 trains.

The relevant departments did not conduct a comprehensive survey of the residents around the proposed line to estimate passenger flow but instead household registration data was used which excludes migrant populations.

[118] In June 2012, Shanghai Metro published a post on Weibo asking women to wear more clothing in public.

The logo is red, the font is black, and the background color is white:[133] On February 4, 2010, in the run-up to the 2010 World Expo in Shanghai, the subway mascot named Changchang (Chinese: 畅畅) was unveiled.