China train types · Train types in China
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Train types in China
Train types in China
Chinese trains are split into different categories designated by letters and numbers indicated on the ticket. A guide to the hierarchy of Chinese trains from fastest to slowest are as follows:
G-series (高速 gāosù) – 350 km/h long-haul high-speed expresses - currently on Wuhan–Guangzhou, Zhengzhou–Xi'an, Shanghai–Nanjing and Shanghai–Hangzhou lines.
C-series (城际 chéngjì) – 350 km/h short-haul high-speed expresses - currently only on Beijing–Tianjin line, some onward to Tanggu near Bohai sea.
D-series (动车 dòngchē) – 250 km/h high speed expresses
Z-series (直达 zhídá) – 160 km/h non/less-stop services connecting major cities. Accommodation is mostly soft seat or soft sleeper, although they often have a couple of hard sleepers too.
T-series (特快 tèkuài) – 140 km/h intercity trains calling at major cities only. Similar to Z–trains although they usually stop at more stations and have hard-seat accommodation.
K-series (快速 kuàisù) – 120 km/h fast trains, the most often seen series, calls at more stations than a T train and has more hard-sleepers and seats.
General fast trains (普快 pǔkuài) – 120 km/h trains, with no letter designation, four digits starts with 1–5. These trains are the cheapest, although slowest long-distance trains
General trains (普客 pǔkè) - 100 km/h short-distance trains with no letter designation, four digits starts with 5, 6, or 7. Slowest trains, stop almost everywhere.
L-series (临时 línshí) – seasonal trains suitable to T- or K-series.
Y-series (旅游 lǚyóu) – trains primarily serving tourist destinations. Currently the only Y-trains operate on the Beijing Suburban Railway between Beijing North and Yanqing County via Badaling (Great Wall).
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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.