Han Ximin

    ximhan@126.com

    CHINA’S railway operator will offer sleepers on high-speed trains between Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen during the 2015 Spring Festival travel season between Jan. 1 and March 13.

    Tickets for the eight pairs of high-speed trains on the Beijing- Guangzhou-Shenzhen and Shanghai-Guangzhou-Shenzhen lines will go on sale Dec. 20, Shenzhen North Railway Station said.

    There are two pairs linking Shenzhen and Beijing and another two linking Shenzhen and Shanghai.

    Trains between Shenzhen and Beijing operate every day of the week except Wednesday. The Shanghai-Shenzhen trains run every day except Thursday. The trains depart at 8 p.m. and arrive at their destinations at between 7 and 8 a.m.

    The operator charges three types of fares for the sleepers: weekday fares, weekend fares, and holiday fares.

    During weekdays, the cost is 999 yuan (US$159) and 1,680 yuan for the upper sleeper and lower sleeper, respectively, on the route between Shenzhen and Beijing. During the weekends, the fares rise slightly. During the Spring Festival travel peak, Feb. 11-17 and Feb. 23-28, the fares will nearly double to between 1,990 and 2,200 yuan .

    In another development, Shenzhen travelers will be able to take high-speed trains to Huaihua, Xiangtan, Shaoshan and Shaoyang in Hunan with the opening of the Changsha-Huaihua section.

    The trip to Huaihua from Shenzhen will be cut by 11 hours to five hours after opeing of high speed trains. The fare is 484 yuan for an economy-class seat.

    There are two trains K9025 and K9060 departing from Shenzhen to Huaihua. The fare for a hard sleeper is 306.5 yuan and for a soft sleeper it’s 484.5 yuan.