Metro struggles with recidivists

RECIDIVISTS are a headache for the city’s Metro operator, the Shanghai Railway Transport Court said yesterday.

Between 2014 and 2017, the court ruled in 1,131 cases related to the subway, and 979, or 87 percent of the total, involved criminal offenses.

Among the criminals, nearly half of them involved habitual offenders. More than 80 percent of them had repeatedly committed crimes in the carriages and stations, the court said.

The court also addressed 140 civil disputes. More than 70 percent of them occurred during the morning and evening rush hours.

With little room for commuters to maneuver in the packed carriages, fights and arguments broke out, most of which was due to misunderstanding.

It is understandable that commuters fought for a seat on the train, the court said, adding that nearly 60 percent of the cases involved young people aged between 18 and 35.

Shanghai’s Metro system has topped others in size in the world.

Spanning 666 kilometers, it has 16 lines, 389 stations and carries 10 million commuters per day.