The Fast Train to Shanghai

Update: Today's Beijing News includes an article with more details on the new 'D' trains. They'll begin service on Dec 21 and will also be available on the Beijing-Hangzhou line - cutting the time needed to get to the home of the West Lake to 11 hours and 20 min. Keep reading below for the full schedule. The price remains an unconfirmed "over RMB 500."

Tickets on the overnight sleeper trains that depart for Shanghai every evening at around 7pm sell out quick. This is especially true of the Friday night services. Although the time period for the pre-sale of most train tickets from Beijing has once again been shortened from 10 to 5 days - well at least until Dec 20, sales of tickets on the express 'Z' category trains remain at 10 days, meaning that those planning to take the night train to Shanghai need to buy their tickets well in advance. As of next month, new high-speed EMU sleeper trains especially aimed at business travelers offer another tempting option for those looking to head down to Shanghai for the weekend.

Aside from 3 relatively slow options, there are currently 2 “T” services (13 hours - T104/T110) and 5 “Z” services (11.5 hours - Z14/Z2/Z6/Z8/Z22) running between the two cities. Not only will the new trains cut 2 hours off the travel time, but also, according to reports, the later departure times of the more comfortable trains, that will leave both Beijing and Shanghai at around 9.45pm and arrive in destination around 7am the next morning, are more convenient. Most of the current services leave between 7.15-7.45pm and many passengers have complained about the hassle (both in terms of peak hour traffic and finding time to eat dinner) of getting to the station at this time. There still hasn't been an official announcement about the ticket price, but media reports estimate that given the fact that a soft sleeper on the current 'Z' service costs between RMB 478 (top bunk) - RMB 499 (bottom bunk), that it will be over RMB 500.

The electric multiple unit (EMU) trains were manufactured by Bombardier Transportation's Chinese joint venture, Bombardier Sifang Power (Qingdao) Transportation Ltd and are powered by traction transformers supplied by multinational power and automation company ABB - often referred to as the G.E of Europe.

Schedule:

D301次(Beijing - Shanghai) 21:39(Beijing Railway Station) Wuxi(6:45 arrive 6:47 depart) 7:38(Shanghai Station)

D302次(Shanghai-Beijing) 21:46(Shanghai Station) Wuxi(22:33 arrive 22:35 depart) 7:45(Beijing Station)

D305次(Beijing -Shanghai) 21:44(Beijing Station) Nanjing Station(5:45 arrive 5:47 depart) 7:43(Shanghai Station)

D306次(Shanghai-Beijing) 21:41(Shanghai Station) Nanjing Station(23:39 arrive 23:41 depart) 7:40(Beijing Station)

D309次(Beijing -Hangzhou) 21:34(Beijing Station) 8:56(Hangzhou Station)

D310次(Hangzhou-Beijing) 20:13(Hangzhou Station) 7:35(Beijing Station)

Links and Sources

People's Daily:
Beijing-Shanghai and Beijing-Hangzhou CRH sleeper routes to operate in December
Qianlong: 京沪动车组列车首次“上马”卧铺 有望下月开跑
163.com: 京沪间将开行卧铺动车组 有望下月开跑
The Beijinger:Tickets Please
The Beijinger:Trainspotting
People's Daily:
image

English-language sites
Seat 61 – China
CNVOL.com - Beijing

Chinese-language sites
Huoche.com.cn
Huochepiao.com
ipiao.com
Piaojia
Kuxun – train tickets
Google Shenghuo – train and long distance bus tickets

Comments

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Yeah but the trains better than flying because of how far beijing airport is as well as how far pudong is. With security you waste half a day flying. If you had a shower before you got on the train your ready to start the day at 7am.

Train over 500 RMB for 12 hours OR

Fly 650 RMB in a few hours..