High-speed rail in China types of train and services · Types of train and services in High-speed rail in China
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Types of train and services in High-speed rail in China
Types of train and services in High-speed rail in China
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.
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High-speed rail in China Travel Guide from Wikitravel. Many thanks to all Wikitravel contributors. Text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0, images are available under various licenses, see each image for details.