During the Spring Festival travel rush, Songjiang Station, a high-speed rail hub, saw heavy passenger flow. Recently, some passengers reported to the Liberation Daily and Shangguan News "People's Voice Express" that they bought a train ticket departing from Songjiang Station. They originally thought that the subway was connected to the station and the ride would be very convenient. However, after experiencing it, they found that "entering the station is comparable to urban parkour": the entrance line signs were unclear and I almost missed the train. A few days ago, reporters came to the station to conduct on-site interviews.
Instructions are contradictory
Songjiang Station is divided into South District and North District. Ticket gates No. 1 and 2 are located in the South District, and ticket gates No. 3-15 are located in the North District. The problem of "difficulty entering the station" reported by passengers mainly occurs in the North District.
When the reporter walked out of the subway station, he was faced with a shopping mall (service center). There were many entry signs at the entrance of the shopping mall and on the ground. However, a closer look at the two signs reveals an obvious contradiction. The ground sign shows "1-2 ticket gate to the left, 3-15 ticket gate to the right", while the standing sign shows "3-15 ticket gate forward to enter the service center, take the elevator to 3F". Here, the reporter met many tourists lingering at the door. After asking, they found out that everyone was hesitant to enter the mall. "I heard that this station is quite convoluted, and I am afraid that if I enter the wrong place, I will not have time to return." Finally, the staff guided these passengers to enter the station through the passage inside the mall.
The "3-15 ticket gate" directions indicated by the ground signs and standing signs are different.
The problem of contradictory signs not only occurs outside shopping malls, but also has similar problems with traffic signs inside shopping malls. For example, in the passage on the first floor of the shopping mall, the hanging light box shows that ticket gate 3-15 is forward, while the sign on the wall shows that ticket gate 3-15 is backward (actually pointing to a barrier-free elevator). There are also many passengers hesitating and wandering here.
The direction of the ticket gate indicated by the sign on the wall next to the escalator is opposite to the direction shown by the hanging sign light board.
Direct elevator is hard to find and can only be detoured
“It took me three rounds of escalators to get to the third floor,” many passengers complained to reporters. It turns out that the central area on the first floor of the shopping mall is the service desk. The escalator is located on the right side facing the service desk, which is very conspicuous. There are also staff guiding the escalator. The reporter stood in the atrium of the shopping mall and looked around. It was difficult to see the direct elevator at a glance, and there were no staff to guide him. A passenger walked around the escalator and couldn't find a direct elevator, so he had no choice but to take the escalator with his luggage.
On social media, many passengers who often take the train at Songjiang Station shared their experience and said: "You are wrong when entering the mall"! Some passengers posted a self-summary "quick entry route" that directs passengers to the direct elevators outside the shopping mall and the ground square of the station. This takes less time than taking the escalator route in the mall. In contrast, this "entry road" in the mall is indeed not convenient for tourists.
The barrier-free elevator in the station ground square can lead directly to the ticket hall.
I ran to the "entrance gate" and found that the door was closed.
After taking the escalator three times to reach the third floor, many passengers were already "short of time", but the "trouble" was not over yet. When passengers dragged their suitcases or carried large and small bags, they rushed to the gate from the shopping mall to the North District entrance. Only after exiting the gate did they realize that they were not facing a security checkpoint, but a closed glass door.
Coming out of the door to the north area on the third floor of the shopping mall, you are faced with a step area. There are signs posted on the steps indicating that "you can enter and take the bus at the entrances on both sides." It seemed that there was still about a hundred meters between the north gate of the shopping mall and the entrance. However, when the passengers rushed to the so-called "entrance", they discovered that the entrances on both sides of the steps were closed. There was a sign on the door that said "please use the side door to enter the station." Among them, there was a door at "entrance 5" that was not sealed with a blue cloth but was installed with a curtain. Many passengers mistakenly thought it was a "side door" and even tried to pull around the door until they found it could not be opened before turning to the side. At this time, they had to walk about 100 meters more to reach the open ticket gate.
There is a sign on the steps that reads "You can enter the station at both sides of the station and take the bus."
The ticket gates on both sides of the actual steps are closed and need to be detoured, and many passengers are lingering in front of the closed doors.
In this regard, many passengers suggested that stations should further clarify their signs and provide guidance on moving routes. If there are multiple routes, they should be clearly marked so that the signs do not become an "obstacle" for passengers entering the station.
