New bullet trains offer sleepers

By Dong Zhen  |   2008-11-25  |     NEWSPAPER EDITION

BULLET trains with sleepers and evening departures will come into service next month between Shanghai and Beijing.

Four trains will be added to the Shanghai-Beijing route on December 21. The D306 sleeper will leave Shanghai Railway Station at 9:41pm, while the D302 will leave at 9:46pm. They will arrive in Beijing at 7:40am and 7:45am the next morning.

Around the same time, their counterparts the D305 and D309 trains will be headed from Beijing to Shanghai.

The ticket price has not been confirmed but will be between 600 yuan (US$88) and 700 yuan each way. An air trip between the two cities costs from 400 yuan to more than 1,000 yuan each way, subject to seasonal fluctuations in price.

At present, only one bullet train is available from Shanghai to Beijing every day and it has no sleeping facilities. It leaves around 7pm, which means passengers have to spend the night sitting up.

"The new bullet train is very welcome," said a regular traveler on the route, surnamed Chen. "They leave late and offer sleepers. We could finish dinner in town before catching the train and have a good sleep on board."