From Wikitravel

This article is a travel topic.

Bring your passport As of June 1st, 2011, new regulations are in force. Foreigners must show their passport to purchase tickets for the fast trains. Chinese citizens show their ID cards.

China is building a high-speed passenger rail network, similar to French TGV or Japanese Shinkansen “bullet trains” but far larger. The overall plan calls for 13,000 km of lines in a national high-speed passenger network by 2012, and 20-odd thousand by 2020. Over 8,000 km (5,000 miles) were already in service as of 2010.

These are easily the best way of getting around China where available. The trains are clean, comfortable and modern. Seating is comparable to that in an airplane. Most tickets are for assigned seats; no-seat tickets are sometimes sold in limited numbers, but unlike regular Chinese trains, there is never a mad crush with more people sitting in the aisles than in seats. Also unlike other trains, no smoking is allowed, including toilet and between carriages. Prices are reasonable and, on most routes, departures are frequent.

The fast trains are called CRH, China Railway High-speed. At some train stations there is a separate CRH ticket office or even vending machines; at others, CRH tickets are sold at separate counters in the main ticket office. In either case, just look for the “CRH” signs or logo. Note that non-Chinese can no longer use the vending machines; you must go to a counter so they can check your passport.

The speeds attained vary considerably from line to line. The technology used also varies. Nearly all the rolling stock is now manufactured in China, but much of the technology comes from abroad. The Canadian company Bombardier, Japanese Kawasaki, German Siemens and European Alstom have been involved.

See China#Get_around for more general information on rail travel in China.

[edit] Types of train and services

The letter prefixes on train numbers indicate the type of train. From fastest to slowest, the fast trains are:

• C: intercity high-speed rail. Top speed 380km/h (237 mph).
• G: latest generation CRH, all with top speeds of at least 330 km/h (over 200 mph) and some up to 380 km/h
• D: earlier generation CRH, with top speeds of 250 km/h (155 mph)

The slower trains are:

• Z or T: intermediate-speed non-CRH trains. Some of these get up to 160 km/h (100 mph)
• K or no letter: slower, cheaper and more crowded trains

The intercity lines such as Beijing-Tianjin and Guangzhou-Zhuhai are funded and administered differently, and are not officially part of the CRH network. For practical travel purposes, however, they are just more fast trains.

On most trains, there are just two classes of seats, first class and second class. Both classes are comfortable, though first has noticeably wider seats. Some trains also have a limited number of VIP sightseeing class or private seat cabins. Some long-distance runs have sleeper cabins.

The price difference for the classes is not enormous. For the Fuzhou-Shanghai D train (six hours and well over 1000 km), for example, second class is 282 and first 330-odd. There is a K train for only 130, but it takes 17 hours on a less direct route and is very crowded. Unless your budget is extremely tight or you cannot cope with six hours in a non-smoking train, the fast train is hugely preferable, easily worth the cost difference.

Some trains have a dining car and nearly all have attendants selling drinks and snacks from carts which they roll up the aisles. Many stations have vendors on the platforms as well. All these tend to be expensive, though, so it is worthwhile bringing your own food and drink.

[edit] Lines in service

As of late 2010, the following lines are in service:

• Beijing - Tianjin – Tanggu, China's first 300+ km/h class line, opened in 2008 just before the Beijing Olympics
  • Beijing South to Tianjin, 117 km in 30 minutes (non-stop) or 35 minutes (stop in Wuqing), 1st class ¥66 and 2nd class ¥55
  • Beijing South to Tanggu in seaside, 51–52 minutes (non-stop) or 54–56 minutes (stop in Tianjin), 1st class ¥84 and 2nd class ¥70
• Wuhan - Changsha - Guangzhou, currently China's flagship high-speed rail line, world’s fastest commercial train service in term of average speed
  • 350 km/h G-series train line opened in December 2009, 968 km in slightly over 3 hours, 1st class ¥780 and 2nd class ¥490
• Xi'an - Zhengzhou, via Luoyang and other smaller stations
  • 350 km/h G-series train line opened February 2010. 457 km in 2 hours. 1st class ¥390 and 2nd class ¥240
• Shanghai - Suzhou - Wuxi - Changzhou - Zhenjiang - Nanjing. Shanghai to Nanjing is the busiest stretch of railway on Earth
  • The D train from the main Shanghai station to Nanjing was one of the first CRH lines and is still in service. It takes a bit over two hours.
  • A new G train line opened in July 2010, running from the new Hongqiao Station in Shanghai, right next to the airport and on subway Line 2. Shanghai-Nanjing time is now 73 minutes for non-stop service; some trains also make intermediate stops.
  • An even newer line is under construction and will cut the travel time to just under one hour, due in late 2011.
• Shanghai – Zhengzhou, Shanghai – Qingdao.
• Shanghai – Hangzhou – Nanchang – Changsha, some trains traverse two lines connecting Hangzhou and Nanjing.
• Shanghai – Hangzhou – Ningbo – Wenzhou – Fuzhou. around 6 hours (+/- 20 minutes depending on stops), ¥282, Fuzhou to Shanghai South station.
  • A new G-series train line opened in October 2010, non-stop service between Shanghai Hongqiao and Hangzhou is 45 minutes.
• Shanghai - Nanjing - Hefei - Wuhan
  • 250 km/h line opened in April 2008 (Hefei–Nanjing section) and April 2009 (Hefei–Wuhan section)
• Beijing - Shijiazhuang - Taiyuan
  • Shijiazhuang–Taiyuan section: 250 km/h line opened in April 2009
• Beijing – Qinhuangdao – Shenyang – Changchun – Harbin
• Beijing – Jinan – Qingdao
• Beijing – Tianjin (Yangliuqing) – Jinan – Nanjing - Shanghai, day-time seat or overnight seat/sleeper trains available, one continuing to Hangzhou
  • Beijing–Shanghai: 1st class seat ¥409 only found on day-time trains; or 2nd class seat ¥327 found on both day-time and overnight trains; or overnight four-person soft sleeper ¥655 for a upper berth or ¥730 for a lower berth, two-person soft sleeper ¥1300 for a upper berth or ¥1470 for a lower berth
• Shenyang - Tianjin - Xuzhou - Nanjing - Shanghai.
• Beijing - Shijiazhuang - Zhengzhou - Wuhan
• Changsha - Nanchang
• Nanchang - Jiujiang
  • Opened September 2010, 135 km in 45 minutes, up to 220 (CRH1) or 250 (CRH2) km/h
• Xi'an - Baoji
• Chengdu – Dujiangyan – Qingchengshan
  • Opened on May 12, 2010, up to 220 km/h
• Guangzhou – Shenzhen (at the border with Hong Kong).
• Wuhan–Xiangfan–Shiyan
• Haikou–Sanya, opened in December 2010, 250 km/h, one of the station is just beside Haikou's Milan Airport
• Beijing/Shanghai–Chengdu/Chongqing, opened early 2011, sleeper CRH on upgraded old railway, around 16 hours
• Changchun–Jilin, 250 km/h, early 2011
• Guangzhou–Zhuhai, opened January 2011

Lots of high-speed lines are still under construction, expect new lines to open every a month or two in the next few years. Lines expected to start service in 2011 include:

• Xiamen–Shenzhen
• Guangzhou–Shenzhen, new 350-km/h line
• Beijing–Tianjin–Jinan–Xuzhou–Nanjing–Shanghai, 380 km/h line set to open between June and October, 2011

When all is complete, Beijing–Shanghai (1305 km) travel time will be cut to under five hours, Beijing–Hong Kong (2250 km) to eight, and Beijing–Ürümqi (3450 km) to twelve.

[edit] Even faster — Maglev

Shanghai has a magnetic levitation train out to Pudong airport. Top speed is around 431 km/h (268 mph) during daytime but restricted to 300 km/h (186 mph) in early morning or after 5p.m.

A maglev line between Shanghai and Hangzhou has been planned, but put on hold by the government, due to the populace's fear of radiation.

[edit] Related developments

As the CRH network comes online, many existing lines are becoming freight-only lines so China's overall freight capacity is being improved as well.

Partly because of competition from the fast trains, some of the Chinese domestic airlines are reducing prices, so there are now quite a few bargain flights. See discount airlines in Asia for some possibilities.

China is trying to sell this technology to other nations; they are negotiating with several countries in Latin America to build a network there. They are also negotiating to extend their network across Asia, with high-speed links all the way to Moscow, Singapore, and New Delhi via Burma. This is a slow process; as of mid-2011, only the link to Vientiane is confirmed. See this news coverage.

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