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China

Shenzhen

A fishing village turned tech hub on Hong Kong's doorstep. On the intercity railway, your passport is the ticket.

Shenzhen Metro (深圳地铁)

Since June 30, 2026 an overseas-issued card gets you through the gates on its own. It is still a trial, though, so only the lanes carrying the acceptance sticker will take it - look for the sticker before you tap.

Updated on August 24, 2026

  • Until Dec 31, 2026

    Foreign cards only work at lanes with the acceptance sticker

    Tap-to-ride with an overseas card started as a trial on June 30, 2026, with only two dedicated gates per station at first. A city transport bureau piece dated August 24, 2026 still calls it a trial limited to lanes with the acceptance sticker; connecting every gate is planned for later in the year.

How to ride

  1. 1
    Clear the entrance screening - bag and body
    Bags go through the X-ray and a handheld wand is passed over you; at peak times entering takes a while.
  2. 2
    Buy a ticket, or just have your card ready
    An overseas card goes straight to the gate; otherwise buy a single-ride ticket at a machine or get a Shenzhen Tong card.
  3. 3
    With a card, use a sticker-marked lane
    Card riders need a lane with the acceptance sticker; lanes without one will not read a foreign card.
  4. 4
    Stay inside the gates when you change lines
    Changing lines needs no exit and no second ticket - buy through to your destination at the start.
  5. 5
    Tap out with whatever you tapped in with
    Exit on the same card, QR code or ticket; this is where the distance-based fare is settled.

Fares

Single fares2

Standard-car single ride (by distance)
2 yuan covers the first 4 km, then it climbs with distance; 15 yuan is the network ceiling
2〜15 CNY ≈ $0.3–2
Business-car single ride (Line 11 only)
The paid upgrade on the airport line, capped at three times the standard fare; day tickets are not valid
6〜36 CNY ≈ $0.9–5

Passes & multi-ride2

One-day ticket
24 hours from your first tap in; the physical ticket is sold outright and cannot be refunded
25 CNY ≈ $4
Three-day ticket
72 hours, valid on every metro line but not on the tram or the business car
75 CNY ≈ $11

Card itself1

Shenzhen Tong card deposit
A refundable deposit rather than a purchase price; travel credit is loaded separately
20 CNY ≈ $3

Add-ons & fees1

Rail-plus-cycling ticket (bike on board)
Weekends and public holidays, at named stations on nine lines, phoned a day ahead; 65 yuan round trip
35 CNY ≈ $5

Estimates use exchange rates as of November 3, 2026

Payment

Tap to ride
VISAMastercardJCBAmex銀聯
Only lanes with the acceptance sticker - still a trial, not every gate
Phone wallet Unverified
No operator page states that phone wallets work at the gates
Card payment at machines
DiscoverVISADinersMastercardJCBAmex
For buying tickets at station service desks - all 391 of them have the terminal
IC card
At the gates: Shenzhen Tong; 5% off standard cars, but only some stations sell it
App tickets
Shenzhen Metro's app and WeChat mini program sell virtual single and day tickets
QR ticketing
At the gates: Three ride-code products scan at the gate, all of them at full fare
Paper tickets
At machines: The green single-ride token, sold by ticket machines and service desks
Cash
At machines: Accepted by ticket machines for single rides; never at the gates

Quick facts

Hours
About 05:45 to past midnight; varies by line
Fares from
2 CNY+
The concourse at peak hour; the customer service desk is at the back. Taken Aug 2018 © Ma Groe waondi・CC BY-SA 4.0

Heads-up

  • Since July 20, 2026 screening covers people as well as bags

    Entrance screening now covers passengers, not just luggage: every bag goes through the machine and a member of staff runs a handheld scanner over your jacket and pockets. Queues lengthened at busy stations when it started, and the operator has responded by speeding up screening at peak times and trialling walk-through metal detectors at Futian and Nanshan Book City. It follows an instruction from above, with no end date announced.

  • A bank card tap-in places a hold until you tap out

    Tapping in with a card carrying the UnionPay and QuickPass marks freezes 15 yuan rather than your actual fare. The balance is released once you tap out and the real fare is taken, but if the settlement stalls the release can take up to five days.

  • Outside peak hours the service desk is a phone call

    Station customer service desks are unstaffed outside the morning and evening peaks. Anything that needs a human - a day ticket, a card payment - runs through the direct-line phone on the counter.

  • Overstaying 210 minutes inside the gates costs extra

    You have 210 minutes inside the gates. Overstay and the operator collects the network's top single fare on top of the fare for the journey you actually made.

Timetable

Operating hours About 05:45 to past midnight; varies by line
Typical duration Seventeen lines cover the city, and the airport, the high-speed rail station and the land border crossings are all on the network
Check the official site for the latest times and service status

Route map

16 lines ·353 stations
© OpenStreetMapOpenMapTilesData (ODbL)
Editor Naotaka