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Beijing West Railway Station, Beijing Railway

Beijing, the pivot of the national rail network, is easily accessible by train from all directions of the country. There are five large railway stations in Beijing, Beijing Railway Station, Beijing West Railway Station, Beijing East Railway Station, Beijing South Railway Station, and Beijing North Railway Station. Among them, the first two are larger passenger stations of domestic and transnational trains. These five stations have tracks running to most provincial capitals and major cities in mainland China as well as Hainan and Taiwan provinces. More information on Introduction of Beijing Railway Stations

In China, traveling by train is rather cheap and safe, especially when your trip is long. Due to the broad territory of the country, the trains take more time of course, to cover the vast distances than do planes. It is best to ask for the timetable of your desired train before starting your journey. Long-distance trains and overnight trains are equipped with a dining car, meal less opulent and price higher than that in restaurants. Carts providing drinks, fruits, snacks, and other items for sale are pushed along the aisle, price also a little higher. The toilets will not be as clean as you would expect, and they can't be used at stations. Sometimes, there are sales persons selling small products like socks, keepsakes and toys, and they often give a lively introduction about their articles.

Train Classes

In China, the passenger trains are always designated into different classes according to the speed, and these different classes of trains have varied train numbers. If a train has an odd number, it means the train will travel in the opposite direction of the capital; otherwise, an even-numbered train will travel towards the direction of Beijing. Besides, the train number is always prefixed with a Chinese Pinyin (Chinese phonetic alphabet) written in upper case to show the speed of the trains. For fast trains, they always arrive on time and are seldom delayed, except when there are inevitable and unforeseen factors. Ordinary trains and temporary trains are more likely to be behind schedule than others. When an ordinary or temporary train receives a stop signal, it will stop to make way for a fast train.

The chart below is used as an example:

Prefix Characters	Chinese Pinyin	Characters	Explanations
D	Dòngchēzǔ, D zìtóu, or Zǐdàntóu	动车组, D字头 or 子弹头	Fastest
Z	Zhídá	直达	Faster, few or no midway stops
T	Tèkuài	特快	Faster, only stop in major stations
K	Kuàisù	快速	Faster
N	Guǎnnèi Kuàisù	管内快速	Fast
No character	-	普快	Ordinary, stop in every station
Y	Lǚyóu	旅游	Temporary tourist trains
A or L	Línkè	临客, 临时列车	Temporary trains

Seat Classes

There are four standard classes of seats available, namely, the soft sleeper (软卧), hard sleeper (硬卧), soft seat (软座) and hard seat (硬座). The price of the seat will vary from the soft sleeper which is the most expensive to the harder seat, which is the cheapest. In the train, you can change your seat class to a higher class or to a lower class. The difference of the ticket cost will be charged or refunded according to the seat classes, and a service fee will be charged at the same time.

Soft sleeper: There is a 2-bed sleeper as well as a 4-bed sleeper in a soft sleeper berth, but the latter is more common. On each side of a 4-bed sleeper berth, there are two sleepers, an upper one and a lower one, and the price for an upper sleeper is cheaper. Hard sleeper: On both side of a hard sleeper berth, there are three sleepers, a lower one, a middle one and an upper one. The price for an upper sleeper is the cheapest among these berths. Soft seat: The soft seat carriage is more comfortable and less crowded than the hard seat carriage. Hard seat: Owing to its lower price, the carriage is often crowded and not as clean and comfortable as the other carriages. Besides, during the Chinese legal holiday, the summer vacation, and the Spring Festival, the ticket for a hard seat is always difficult to buy, and there are many people who hold standing-room tickets in the carriage.

Buying Train Tickets

All train tickets can be booked at most 10 days in advance. Besides, people can buy long-distance train tickets for other large stations within 12 days in Beijing. If you buy tickets at the ticket offices instead of railway stations, you will be charged CNY 5 for each ticket as a service fee. Purchasing tickets on your own would be confusing and time consuming. You are advised to book your tickets via travel agents at hotels, though they will charge more, because of service fees. Beijing West Railway Station and Beijing Railway Station have special counters to serve foreigners and guests from Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macao. Passports or other certificates are required.

In Beijing, there are many outlets selling train tickets, therefore, the selling of tickets runs out within a short time. It is best to buy a ticket as early as possible. The ticket offices are always marked by the Chinese characters '火车票代售处' in a very effective color scheme. Ticket scalpers are more active during the Chinese legal holidays, summer vacation and the Spring Festival. You would better off to buy tickets at the ticket windows or ticket offices to ensure that you have a legitimate and legal ticket for your journey.

Station Hot Line Service
Beijing Railway Station
Passenger Inquiring: 010-51019999
Tickets booking: 010-95155105, 010-51834512

Beijing West Railway Station
Passenger Inquiring: 010-51826253, 010-51826263, 010-51826273
Tickets booking: 010-51824233, 010-51824261

Comments and Questions

Thanks a lot,
Please do you know how much it cost me to take a taxi to Diplomatic Office Building, 14 liangmahe Nan Lu in Chaoyang District from Beijing South Railway Station.

Reply7/10/2010 9:48:00 PMStan , Malaysia

Bella :7/11/2010 5:53:00 AM

about CNY 40.

Hi everyone,
Please I need someone to direct me on how to get to Diplomatic Office Building, 14 liangmahe Nan Lu in Chaoyang District from Beijing South Railway Station.
Any help ll be appreciated.

Thanks.

Reply7/10/2010 5:50:00 PMStan , Malaysia

Bella :7/10/2010 9:15:00 PM

hi,
you can take Bus No. 652 at the South Square of Beijing South Railway station, and get off at the West Liujiayao Bridge (Liujiayao Qiao Xi), then walk to the east to take Subway Line 5 to South Cross of Huixinxijie (Huixinxijie Nankou), and change to Subway Line 10 to Liangmaqiao Station. exit at Exit B and then walk to the east. there's no direct bus or subway to the Diplomatic building, so you can also take a taxi from the railway station.

How long does it take to travel by train from the UK to Beijing?

Reply5/27/2010 6:25:00 PMMary Jones , United Kingdom

Lily :5/27/2010 8:35:00 PM

hi Mary,
as far as i know, there's no direct train from UK to Beijing, if there was, it must take a very long time. i think an airplane may be a better choice.

I want to take the train from Ulan Bator to Beijing on Saturday July 3, 2010. I have not been able to find any travel agents that can book this. Please help! This is the only day that fits my itinerary. I will need 2 first class tickets. Thank you!

Reply5/9/2010 3:30:00 PMCatherine , United States

Forum Moderator ( China ) :5/10/2010 9:30:00 PM

We are sorry that we are now only providing train tickets booking service within China.We will provide you our best service if you need such service in China.

Greetings.. Beijing airport at 2.00pm. Where to get a train to Chengde.
HOw long does it take to Chengde? Is it an overnight travel or few hours.
Can a return tickek back to Beijing be bought at the same time>
Appreciate in your reply. Thanks.

Reply4/5/2010 6:26:00 PMdorothysam , United States

Robert ( Singapore ) :4/5/2010 9:43:00 PM

You may take Subway Line 10 (airport line) to Dongzhimen, and then change to Subway line 2 to Beijing Rauilway Station, finally take Train 4452/4453 to Chengde. It is a overnight train departing at around 24:00 and arriving at about 06:00.
I'm not sure whether you can buy a round-trip train ticket.

I am arriving at Tianjin Binhai Airport on 20th March, and want to catch the fast bullet train to Beijing, where I am staying at the Beijing Continental Grand Hotel near the Olympic Village.
Please tell me the transport I have to take- is it a bus to Tianjin Railway Station, bullet train to Beijing South Station, and taxi to my hotel?
1. Which bus do I catch at Tianjin Binhai Airport to go railway station?
2. Must I stop at Beijing South, or is there another train station closer to my hotel?
3. From that Beijing train station, how long does the taxi take to go to my hotel, and what is the approximate price?
Thank you.

Reply3/16/2010 9:06:00 PMWilliam Lim , Malaysia

Bun :3/17/2010 8:46:00 PM

1. Take Bus No. 666 from the Civil Aviation College.
2.I think you must stop at the Beijing South Railway Station.
3. Sorry that I only know that you may take Subway Line 4 to Xizhimen first and then change to Bus No. 939 to the Olympic Village, which takes about 1 hour.

Please advise schedule and price for bullet train from beijing to Tianjin Port to embark on cruise ship on 25 March 2010. Thanks

Reply3/1/2010 3:19:00 AMKate , Australia

David :3/1/2010 8:18:00 PM

There is a train every 15 or 30 minutes from Beijing to Tianjin from 06:30 to 22:00.

What is the best way (cheapest) to travel from Ulan Bator to Harbin???

Reply12/20/2009 9:14:00 AMmarianne , Russian Federation

Cherry :12/21/2009 7:49:00 PM

I think you can take a train from Ulan Bator to Harbin.

Hi:

1) What days do the trains from Beijing to Erlian leave?

2) Can you tell me where the buses are to go to Erlian from Beijing? I know some are from the north of the city and some are from the south. I want to go from the south. Do you know where the bus station is? And how do I reserve a ticket?

Bob--thanks for your reply with that website...but it doesn't help...the train schedule doesn't tell me what days the train actually leaves Beijing, and the bus schedule doesn't give me details about what numbers to call to reserve tickets...

Reply12/17/2009 1:02:00 AMJulie , United States

Reply12/16/2009 5:37:00 AMJulie , United States

Bob Zhang :12/16/2009 8:01:00 PM

You can search the info. from the website below:
http://www.beijingtrip.com/china-train/

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