Real Ice in Shanghai Metro

By Jian Shuo Wang on 2006-08-17 23:17 · Metro

Shanghai is hot recently (good news is, it will cool down very soon). Thanks to the good air-con in both metro stations and metro carts, it is very good experience as long as you stay inside the Metro System, but not several carts.

The air-con systems on several train carts don’t work very well. They just produce very weak cold air, so the cart is very hot. I got onto such a train today.

Before they are able to fix the air-con problem, the Metro company put a big blue box in the middle of the cart and put big block of ICE in it. The ice really worked. The cart is not hotter than other places.

The blue ice box

The note says: ICE! Don’t Litter

Ice and water

I Appreciate It

After running a company for a while, I understand even the richest company has limited resources. To workaround the constraints and get a reasonable result is the responsibility of the management team. I know in ideal world, air-con does not break, and if it does breaks, people can fix it immediately. Even if it cannot be fixed, there are spare carts to put into operation. However, the real world may not be that way.

So they found innovative way (although people may think it stupid ) to solve the problem with the resource they have. I believe this is a much better approach than the approach of the City Terminal Station. I love programs with small money but made big impact.

14 Comments
the ice is all melted and there's nothing but water in that container. are the passengers supposed to splash cold water on their faces to try to cool off?
— Shrek7 · 2006-08-18 03:29
Shark7, it is the garbage can they are using and who knows what was in it before the ice.
— stephen · 2006-08-18 04:10
thanks Stephen

I have always wanted to ride a subway where I can wash my feet with ice water. How cool!
— Shrek7 · 2006-08-18 04:15
I don't think this is very sanitary. Imagine if just one person spit into the tank...very bad!
— David S. · 2006-08-18 05:36
COLD air is heavy. i dont think it is fully functionable with the height of the blue bin. It is too high for the cold air to be spread around. they should put fan instead to let the cold air inside the blue bin to move around.

0.02cents.

mop
— mop_iko · 2006-08-18 09:23
Just to make the already crammed train more crowded. Less space = more heat. Doesn't justify....
— James · 2006-08-18 13:10
the ice bin is nice innovative idea, it does as a fake aspiring make head pain disappear...

hot by physic goes up being lighter, cold stay lower being more heavy...., as well ice melting create more humidity therefore more sweating... more heat felt...

anyway seem to satisfy locals, so seem to be a efficient propaganda against hot wheater... :-)

interesting point how to convince masses... ;-)
— jerry · 2006-08-18 15:05
It seems that Shanghai has the climate which should be.

This summer is very strange, because many places are not as hot as it should be, even a little cold. Today here minimum is 13 °C. We needn't the ice but heating somehow.

By the way several days ago at about 21h30 I saw a red moon which is very round and very large (much larger than normal size), many peoples stopped in the hightway's parking for seeing this phenomenon. Even at the begining people can't identify that it is the moon or the sun!

Anyone has some explication?
— xiaoqi · 2006-08-18 17:22
yeah, sometimes, the very simple approach can solve big problems!
— mjshi · 2006-08-19 00:14
the feet are the most sensitive part of the human body with all sorts of nerves. if the feet are cold, that makes the rest of the body cold. take off shoes and socks before dipping feet in the ice cold water barrel.

*ICY FEET ARE THE SECRET TO BEAT SHANGHAI HEAT*
— Shrek7 · 2006-08-19 00:43
I don't think it's a good idea,don't they have any better ideas to lower temperature?
— xiaoguo · 2006-08-19 15:49
There IS a better way to stay cool in the subway:

Keep wearing your Pajamas all day like the locals!!!
— shockr · 2006-08-22 15:47
shochr,could tell me compare what it's a better way?
— xiaoguo · 2006-08-23 21:43
This is genious! They should do that in Montreal. Even in the winter, the the train cars are to hot.

So the subway in Shaighai belongs to a private company? Ironic, in Canada they belong to the cities they are in. How does the subway generate a profit? That would be unthinkable here.

By the way, for futur reference, the term is train "car', not "cart".
— Sam · 2006-08-29 15:31