Line 2 runs from National Exhibition and Convention Center in the west to Pudong Airport Terminal 1&2 in the east, passing Hongqiao Airport, the Huangpu river, and the Lujiazui Financial District in Pudong.

With a daily ridership of over 1.9 million, it is the busiest line on the Shanghai Metro.

The first section of line 2 was opened on October 28, 1999, from Zhongshan Park to Longyang Road.

A year later coinciding with the tenth anniversary of the development and opening up of Pudong, marking the official opening of the line, Zhangjiang High Technology Park was added to the eastern part of the line, adding 2.8 kilometres (1.7 mi).

Four years later, in preparation for the 2010 Shanghai World Expo, the line was significantly expanded.

In February, the Zhangjiang High Technology Park station was rebuilt.

In October 2006, it was decided to rename three stations on line 2 by the end of the year,[12][13] adopting a new naming scheme: metro stations, unlike bus stops, are no longer supposed to be named after neighbouring vertical streets, but famous streets and sights in the vicinity, making it easier for visitors to find these places.

Line 2 had a piecewise service pattern during morning peak hours whereby the suburban segment between Guanglan Road station and Pudong International Airport station (Now Pudong Airport Terminal 1&2 station) is partially served by a four-car fleet in addition to the regular eight-car fleet serving the whole line.

The metro line passes the Oriental Pearl TV Tower and the World Finance Center near its station at Lujiazui.

The line then runs under Century Avenue and heads southeastward to the Dongchang Road.

Line 2 continues southeastward along Century Avenue to the Shanghai Science and Technology Museum.

Line 2 heads eastward, running under Zuchongzhi Road to the Zhangjiang High Technology Park station.

Construction started on a one station west extension from East Xujing to Panxiang Road[44] in June 2021.

The extension of Metro line 2 to the west will improve the connection of the Hongqiao business hub to the city center and Pudong.

In 2014, Shanghai Metro investigated upgrading the existing signal system of line 2 (US&S United Signal AF900, fixed block TBTC) to increase the frequency of trains and reduce congestion.