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Q: Buying D train tickets
I am arriving back in China on Oct 15. Due to my inbound leg being part of a multi trip airfare I was not able to get the usual connection to Shenyang as part of the airfare and it added a lot to the cost. I wish to catch the train Beijing Shenyang and was just going to go to the station with my Chinese born wife to buy the ticket on the day. Their are plenty of trains scheduled but she now insists that we can't buy one on the day because "somebody told her" they are always sold out. Has anyone purchased high speed rail tickets on the day lately? What about that route? On previous trips there was always seats left on the trains and it is not holidays. Any other advice?
10 years 29 weeks ago in Transport & Travel - China
Please buy the ticket earlier to make sure you have the seat. Else, you can buy the ticket without the seat and get on the train. The other way is, buy any available ticket on the route to yours destination; then make a top up payment on the train and do not go down the train until yours destination. The last two alternative may result in you need to stand or find any available seat in the train. You can rush to the canteen compartment on the train to get the sit over there if it is not full with others similar passenger.
D train is not the fastest train which operate in China.
You should purchase train ticket in China 10-12 days earlier, what is also the date, when they start selling train tickets. Website below shows tickets sale begins '18 days in advance', but in my experience I could never purchase ticket more than 10 days before departure. Very convenient way of buying train tickets is online. I am not sure, how is with the 'train tickets pick-up', because you are not in China. After my friend purchased tickets online this summer, she had to go to the Railway Station, and pick them up. I guess, you might be able to pick-up tickets just before departure in Beijing.
You won't be able to purchase train ticket in Beijing few hours before departure. If you're lucky, you might get standing ticket on the same day as departure.
I was able to purchase train ticket for (the fastest) G train in Tianjin - Nanjing, some 14 hours before departure.
Next year, I will return from EU (after month stay), and will need train ticket Beijing - Urumqi. I will probably ask Chinese friend to buy ticket for me, and on my return, I hope I will be able to pick it up in Beijing before departure.
If you arrive to Beijing without train ticket, make yourself 'ready' for at least 2 days Hotel stay, and 'worst seats' possible to Shenyang.
More info on buying train tickets in China:
http://www.travelchinaguide.com/china-trains/ticket-service.htm
Up until about a month ago, it was easy to purchase G train tickets on the day, a lot of Chinese people go for the cheaper slower train option. I'm not sure if the G train goes to Shenyang. I thought the G train only ran from Beijing to Shanghai and Beijing to Shenzhen, stopping at all major cities in between but maybe they have opened new routes now.
icnif77:
I wasn't sure about G train to Shenyang, so I posted CNVOL link. Available trains to Shenyang are T, D, K, and 'numbers only' train, as T being the fastest. However, construction of G train infrastructure started in Liaoning some 3 years ago.
