Passenger rail transport in China
The preceding letter of route identifier indicates the type of the passenger train, often determined by the speed and the stop patterns.
These trains are powered using CRH series electric multiple units (EMUs) named "Harmony" (Chinese:和谐号, Hexiehao).
D-series trains provide relatively fast frequent service between main cities in China.
It represents the EMU trains within a metropolitan region, and mainly running within one railway bureau.
Some of these services run more as commuter trains to/from satellite cities surrounding major urban centres or from downtown to the airport, as at Lanzhou.
As of 2009, Z-series trains also operated along the Yangtze Valley as well, providing overnight service from Wuhan to Shanghai, Hangzhou, Ningbo and Shenzhen.
The general train (普通旅客列车, which can be shortened to 普客, Puke) has as many stops as possible, and is often the preferred choice for rural workers to visit their home villages because of low ticket price.
[4] Besides, travel agencies can apply to the Railways Department for organizing additional passenger trains for the tours.
Types by 2004:[5] (km/h) Types during 2004 – 2009:[6] 特快旅客列车 tekuai lüke lieche 快速旅客列车 kuaisu lüke lieche 普通旅客列车 putong lüke lieche As the Rule of The Edit and Management of Train Timetable, a rule issued by Ministry of Railway, the arrangement of following passenger train classes was put into practice from April 1, 2009.
On High-Speed trains, fewer standing tickets are available and limited to entry vestibules and cafe cars.
At stations or from on-board vendors, small folding seats are often sold to allow these passengers to sit in the aisles.
The majority of train tickets in China are thermally printed paper tickets displaying the train's origin and destination, service number, price, date and travel time, accommodation type, class and seat number, as well as a barcode for security checks.
Vendors with trolleys walk through the train selling snacks, drinks, fruit, newspapers etc.
At many stations along the route, vendors will sell fruit, prepared food and instant noodles on the platforms during the stops for conventional trains.
Hot-water is provided in almost every carriage for passengers to make tea or instant noodles.
On modern trains such as CRH or Beijing Suburban railway smoking is completely banned, with some smoke detectors connected to the brakes to stop the train, causing errant smokers facing hefty fines and penalties.
Identification of one of the following types is required: Applicable only to holders of a second-generation ID card: In lieu of the traditional paper ticket, passengers may swipe their cards to pass through automatic entry and exit gates at stations on the following routes: Passengers checking in with their ID card may request a paper ticket within 31 days of completing their journey.
If within 2 hours of departure or already in possession of a paper ticket, passengers must make changes at the rail station.
Before 30 Jan 2020, intercity through train services are available between Kowloon (Hung Hom station) and Beijing West, Shanghai, Guangzhou East, Foshan and Zhaoqing.
For Beijing/Shanghai to Kowloon routes, additional carriages are attached in the section between Beijing/Shanghai and Guangzhou East for domestic passengers, where boarding and alighting is allowed at intermediate stations.
[7] Through High-speed services are available since 2018 between West Kowloon and Shenzhen, Guangzhou and other cities in mainland China like Shanghai, Xiamen, Guiyang and Beijing.
Sections operated by CR (from other stations in mainland China to Shenzhen Futian) and MTR (West Kowloon to Shenzhen Futian) have different pricing policies, making the cross-border section one of the most expensive in China.
A few trains can transport passengers out of China to places such as Ulaanbaatar in Mongolia, Moscow in Russia, Almaty in Kazakhstan, P'yŏngyang in North Korea, Hanoi in Vietnam，Vientiane in Laos and so on.
