Jane Chen / Shanghai Daily news

At the March 29 rail transport work meeting, vice Mayor Yang Xiong urged workers to speed up construction of Metro No. 4 to ensure the line is ready to start trial operation by the end of this year.
At that time, the new line will be joined at each end to Metro No. 3, allowing commuters to travel from near the Sofitel Jin Jiang hotel in Pudong in a huge counterclockwise arc to the Luwan District on the Puxi side of the Huangpu River. 
"That will further help ease the city's heavy traffic and make local people's lives more convenient," said Yang, who is also the director of the city's rail transport.  People can travel around the city conveniently between the five rail lines in operation, using a single transportation card.
Currently, testing is being carried out on the new trains, the ticketing system, and the telecommunications network along the Metro No. 4 line, where 13 new stations will be added.  The 13 stations, together with nine stations on Metro Line 3, form a 'C' shaped track running through the city's downtown areas.
By 2010, Shanghai will be pressured into meeting the goal of building a rail network totaling 400 kilometers, Yang added.
The existing four lines, or Metro No. 1,2,3 and 5, are 95 kilometers.  By the year-end, this length will be increased to 112 kilometers with the completion of the 17-kilometer Metro No. 4.