Hongqiao Road is an interchange station between Lines 3, 4 and 10 on the Shanghai Metro. It is the southernmost station of which Lines 3 and 4 share the same tracks. The station opened on 26 December 2000 as part of the initial section of Line 3 from Shanghai South Railway Station to Jiangwan Town, and Line 4 service began here on the final day of 2005. The interchange with Line 10 opened on 10 April 2010.

Line 3 is a north–south line of the Shanghai Metro network. Its older rolling stock carry a bright yellow colour belt to differentiate them from Line 4 trains which share a portion of its route, while the newer stock features a yellow and purple livery, which the exact line is labelled using sticker or screens saying “Line 3” or “Line 4”. Unlike the majority of the lines in the Shanghai Metro system, Line 3 is primarily elevated, entirely above ground except for Tieli Road, located at the entrance to Baosteel Group Corporation. The line runs from North Jiangyang Road in the north to Shanghai South Railway Station in the southwest of the city, where it meets line 1. While line 1 goes straight through the city center, line 3 roughly follows the Inner Ring Road around the city from Caoxi Road to Zhongtan Road. The line has about 300 drivers. Between December 26, 2000, and August 8, 2002, the line operated under the name Pearl Line; On August 8, 2002, it was renamed as Rail Transit Line 3. The line is colored yellow on system maps.