With the recent opening of a number of major new railway lines, China Railways is fully ready to let passengers take advantage of the new network by offering even more trains. 2,844½ “pairs” of trains (a pair equals one train running in each direction, making it two in total) will run on the railway network in mainland China (it is possible to have “half-a-pair”; in this case it is a train making a single outbound journey only). Of these, CRH trains will account for 1,696 “pairs”. This means 59.6% of all trains running in China are now CRH trains, which almost always come with a train number prefixed with the letter C, D, or G.
New lines from Hefei to Fuzhou, and from Xinhuang (West) to Guiyang, will also mean new routes, such as a first-ever HSR service from Beijing to Guiyang, amongst others.
Chances are, your part of China will be (positively) affected — here are more details:
- Beijing: New HSR services to Guizhou and Huangshan and more trains to Shenyang
- Guiyang: New HSR trains, including the first high speed connection to Beijing
- Hefei-Fuzhou: New line will mean lots of new trains, including those to Beijing and beyond
- Shanghai: 40 new trains, both local and long-distance
- Southwest & Southern China: New and extended services, including Chongqing North – Shenzhen North HSR trains
- Wenzhou: New service from Wenzhou station via Jinwen Rail to Shanghai South
- Xuzhou: New regular train to Guangzhou East and new HSR connections to southeastern China
- Zhengzhou: New and improved HSR and regular rail trains, including a new train to Hainan
Also from 01 August 2015, Tracking China will extend coverage of major timetable changes for all municipalities, and seats of government for provinces and autonomous regions, inside mainland China. This will also include the cities of Dalian, Ningbo, Qingdao, Shenzhen, Wenzhou, Xiamen, and Yantai.
Happy travels!