Shanghai East Railway Station Reaches Key Construction Milestone as It Edges Closer to 2027 Opening

Shanghai East Railway Station reached a significant milestone on Tuesday with the topping out of its concrete structure.

This marks the start of interior work.

Central to the Oriental Hub, the complex covers 1.3 million square meters. A 160,000sqm station building with three levels above and three below will serve 15 platforms and 30 tracks.

It will be the first high-speed railway station in China where passengers can check in for flights and drop baggage inside the station before transferring directly to the Pudong International Airport 5 kilometers away.

Construction on the station building's above-ground concrete structure began in March. To maintain precision at scale, the site has deployed automated curing along with robotic welding and leveling across key operations.

Over 5,000 workers and 100 major pieces of machinery have been deployed, operating around the clock to maintain progress.

The station is expected to open in July 2027. Once in use, it will become Shanghai's second-largest integrated transport hub, consolidating high-speed rail, city railway, Metro services, and airport check-in under a single roof.

It will connect to the Shanghai-Hangzhou High-Speed Railway and the second phase of the Shanghai-Suzhou-Nantong Railway and link with Hongqiao Transportation Hub via the Airport Link Line.