China High-Speed Rail || Why Is It So Incredible?

Whilst Chinese sleeper trains are great for long distances, and the sleeper bus option great for the wallet, a ride on the China high-speed rail will be unlike any train journey you’ve had before (unless you’ve travelled to Japan.)

Before we get started though, we HIGHLY RECOMMEND you watch this video.

It paints an incredible picture of how Chinese High Speed Rail has grown in the space of 10 short years!

Pretty incredible and powerful stuff, right?

China is a big country, after all.

The high-speed rail network in China connects big towns from all 4 corners of the country, connecting families, friends, and businesses.

A ride on China high-speed rail won’t be cheap – but it’s one to tick off your list at least once during your time studying, travelling or working in China.

High Speed Rail in China || An Introduction

High Speed Rail in China || Types of High Speed Rail

High Speed Rail in China || How Fast Is It?

High Speed Rail in China || Travelling by Bullet Train

High Speed Rail in China || Where Can You Go?

High Speed Rail in China || How to Book a Ticket

High Speed Rail in China || FAQs

High Speed Rail in China || An Introduction

Official definition of high-speed rail in China: 

Newly-built passenger-dedicated rail lines designed for electrical multiple unit (EMU) train sets traveling at not less than 250 km/h (155 mph) (including lines with reserved capacity for upgrade to the 250 km/h standard), on which initial service operate at not less than 200 km/h (124 mph).

The China high-speed rail (also known as HRS) is the world’s largest high-speed rail network, and the most extensively used.

It stretches throughout the country, going through 30 out of the 33 provinces that make up China.

DID YOU KNOW || The total length is 27,000km (17,000 miles) which makes up for about two-thirds of the world’s high-speed rail network. And it just keeps growing!

Chinese Sleeper Train 🚃 What Do I Need To Know

Traversing China on by train? Should I go soft sleeper, on the Chinese sleeper train or go for a hard seat? Should I take the fast train?

High Speed Rail in China || Types of Rail

High-speed rail service in Chinese: gaotie 高铁

There are 3 different classes of the Chinese bullet train. C-Class, G-Class, and D-Class.

C-Class

This service, operating above 250km/h is considered a HRS.

These are intercity train services, operating for example between Beijing – Tianjin.

This line was designed with a speed of 350km/h and sees on average speeds of 226km/h.

G-Class

‘G’ for… Gaotie!

One of the most common types of high-speed rail in China, this service runs at a minimum of 250km/h on average.

It usually runs on lines with designed speeds of 350 km/h and averages around 300km/h depending on the line. Pretty speedy…!

D-Class

‘D’ for..- Dongche 动车, another term used to refer to a type of high-speed rail in China.

These services run at lower speeds and run either on the high-speed or non-high speed track.

High Speed Rail in China || How Fast?

China high-speed rail speeds can reach 300 km/h (186 mph), or a top speed of 350 km/h (217 mph).

The fastest China high-speed rail train service is the Shanghai – Maglev Train.

This is measured by peak operational speed.

This train service can reach a massive 431 km/h (268 mph).

However, the small length of the track means that the average speed of the train only makes it to 245.5 km/h (152.5 mph).

High Speed Rail in China || On the Bullet Train

So, why should I travel by China high-speed rail?

There’s only one thing that should put you off travelling the HRS rather than a slower train or bus, and that’s the price.

The Gaotie is not cheap, but it’s often worth it.

Fast

Not sure if this has been mentioned yet… But yes, they’re pretty speedy.

The world’s fastest, in fact.

So unless a flight is on the cards, it’s going to be the quickest way to get you from A to B.

Plus, it’s fun travelling at such speeds, and surprisingly not as rollercoaster-like as you would expect with incredibly smooth trains running up and down the nation every hour of every day.

Convenient

Visiting virtually all of China’s 34 provinces… You can’t get much more convenient.

In comparison to a flight, the railways are usually much closer to the city meaning that you don’t have to travel as far out to get to the station.

That being said, however, Beijing West and Beijing South train stations operate the high-speed rail in Beijing and they’re a pain to get to…

Comfortable

There are a few classes to choose from, but even at second class, the cheapest class, it’s pretty darn comfortable.

There’s a large amount of space – much more than on an aeroplane, and you can walk around freely.

Smokers should be warned that unlike on the slow trains, smoking is not allowed on the high-speed rail.

Join the large group of Chinese males that will be standing at the door coming into a station to get a quick 30 second puff if needed!

Punctual

Unlike other train services in China, which, to be fair, aren’t delayed all that often anyway, it is almost unheard of for a bullet train to be delayed.

This is what my Chinese boss and colleagues were convincing me of, anyway, as we waited 3 hours for our delayed departure to Qingdao…

High Speed Rail in China || Where to Go?

Keep in mind (if you watched the above video you’ll already know this) – but China’s High Speed Rail Network in 2008, consisted of just TWO LINES!

Those two lines were Beijing to Tianjin and Shanghai to it’s local airport!

Absolute madness when you see this map below…

The production and the building of the China high-speed rail over the past few decades in China has seen it growing rapidly, with the newest line opening in 2018 from Beijing to Hong Kong.

This takes a short and pleasant 9 hours, and the fares are as follows:

You can essentially go anywhere you want in China using high speed rail.

Although, if you do all of your travel by fast train, you’ll probably be out of pocket pretty soon…

The “Eight Verticals”

1. Coastal passageway
2. Beijing–Shanghai passageway
3. Beijing–Hong Kong (Taipei) passageway
4. Harbin–Hong Kong (Macau) Passageway
5. Hohhot–Nanning passageway
6. Beijing–Kunming passageway
7. Baotou (Yinchuan)–Hainan passageway
8. Lanzhou (Xining)–Guangzhou passageway

The “Eight Horizontals”

1. Suifenhe–Manzhouli passageway
2. Beijing–Lanzhou passageway
3. Qingdao–Yinchuan passageway
4. Eurasia Continental Bridge passageway
5. Yangtze River passageway
6. Shanghai–Kunming passageway
7. Xiamen–Chongqing passageway
8. Guangzhou–Kunming passageway

And some more fun facts to finish…

• World’s longest line || Beijing – Guangzhou
• The world’s fastest line || Beijing – Shanghai
• World’s first commercial magnetic levitation line || Shanghai Maglev

High Speed Rail in China || Booking a Ticket

To book China high speed train tickets conveniently and using your phone, we recommend to use an app called China Train Booking (iOS and Android are both available).

It allows you to check trains timetable and book your tickets online in a very simple way.

After you book successfully, you will receive your pickup codes to collect tickets at your departure railway station.

For more convenience, the China Train Booking app provides delivery service that allows you to receive train tickets at your hotel or personal address in China in 2 days.

Having your tickets in hand before travel date will save you a lot of time for queuing up at a ticket collection window at a railway station.

Free downloads || iOS Link / Android link

High Speed Rail in China || FAQs