Train travel Beijing-->Hong Kong during New Year

[valikor]

I want to take the train from Beijing to Hong Kong over the Spring Festival (probably leaving Feb 15) I heard different numbers for when train tickets go on sale. I originally heard it was 10 days in advance, then I heard 20, and then I heard 4.

More importantly, how bad is the congestion, and will it be possible to get tickets?

If they go on sale ten days in advance, and my best option is to go to the train station at 6AM and wait in line, then I can do that in a couple days... but I'd be interested to hear from someone with more experience. A Chinese friend said I could do it online, but the only sites I found charged ridiculous fees.

Thanks!

David

[gato]

It'll be hard to get tickets. And even if you get tickets, the train is likely to be standing room only during the New Year's period. Not going to be pleasant.

[X-Wangel]

I advise you to leave at 14th or 15th.The tickets of just the two days are easy to get between the whole February.Because no chinese would chose to travel at the first day of a newyear.

And you needn't to queue at the train station.I think there are many "火车票代售点" in Beijing.They usually charge 5 yuan additionally.

[roddy]

If you're looking at the international BJ>HK train where you go through passport control at Beijing West and come out at Hung Hom, I wouldn't be surprised if that's relatively easy to get onto - it's often virtually empty normally. Certainly won't be standing room only, as it's all sleepers. Not sure how many days in advance the tickets are on sale at the moment, as this train is a bit of a special case. Check dates as well, as it only leaves (and comes back) every second day.

If you're aiming to go Beijing to Shenzhen and then hop over the border, different story. Tickets at the moment are either 10 or 5 days in advance depending on the train (if I remember correctly D and T prefixes are 10 days, everything else is 5) and in pretty high demand. The five days are inclusive - ie tickets for the 6th were on sale on the 2nd, so that's maybe where 4 days comes from.

[valikor]

I was planning on taking the one that goes directly to Hong Kong... the Shenzhen one would be fine too, but it seems like that would be a very bad idea.

This sounds somewhat optimistic... I guess I'll try to head to a ticket shop tomorrow and see if they're available. If not, I assume they'll be available Friday? (10 days?)

I'll post my results, in case anyone is interested. (I'd assume that Hong Kong/Macau would be popular New Years destinations for expats)

[roddy]

Actually that train isn't very well known, and I'm not sure too many people would want to spend 48 hours of their holiday on it (the train is fine, but it's a long time if you only have a week off). Looks like it might still be on sale the normal twenty days in advance - although if anything that's a disadvantage for you as you're only buying ten days ahead. But give it a shot, I won't be surprised if you get tickets no problem.

You may get funny looks if you just ask for the train to Hong Kong, the staff at some random outlet may not know it exists. It's T97 on the system, and is 北京西 to 九龙 - get them to look it up. Should be there.

[valikor]

48 hours? I was under the impression that it took 24 hours?

And yes, I hope the tickets did NOT go on sale 8 days ago

[889]

It's 48 hours on a round-trip basis.

From HK at least, there's a promotional fare which isn't available "during the Chinese New Year period from 7 to 12 Feb and 19 to 28 Feb 2010," which suggests that CNY itself is not a peak travel time. Also, tickets from HK are available 60 days in advance.

http://www.it3.mtr.com.hk/B2C/UserPage/sysFareTable_Eng.asp

http://www.it3.mtr.com.hk/B2C/UserPage/sysTicketInformation_Eng.asp

I'm not sure all ticket outlets in Bejing offer booking on this train, but if there's a problem you can head to the main ticket office for the HK service, which is hidden well away on the second floor of Beijing West Station.

[roddy]

I'm pretty sure, though not 100%, that it's available via the normal train ticket network. If not you can certainly get them at Beijing West or Beijing. At Beijing I was sent to the 'foreign personages and VIP' window, although I suspect this was just because I was a foreign personage, and that the tickets are available at any window. At Beijing West - does that second floor booking place still exist? I thought it had been done away with, but could be wrong - there's a 'Kowloon Tickets and English Service' window, although again I suspect any window would do.

[889]

I haven't been to that second-floor ticket office recently, so perhaps it has closed.

[valikor]

There were no problems buying these tickets at the station. I was apparently not considered worthy of VIP/foreign personage service.

It seems that I also got an upgrade without paying much more than I expected; the tickets from BJ-->HK apparently allowed me and my travel partner to have our own car!

Though the train leaves on Odd-days, not even-days (contrary to some resources I read online), and the return trip was sold out for the initial return day that I asked for.

Happy New Years everyone!

[889]

Since the train runs every other day, it leaves Beijing on odd days in February and March this year, then on even days in April and May, and so on. Next year, presumably, will be the reverse.

http://www.it3.mtr.com.hk/B2C/UserPage/sysTimeTable_Eng.asp

[roddy]

Car or compartment? Last time I took this train there were only about a couple of people per compartment.

You may actually have been able to get the return tickets on arrival in Hong Kong - that's what happened to me last time, even though Beijing hadn't been able to sell me them.

[valikor]

Sorry, compartment/room. I'm sure we won't have an entire car -_-

I bought the tickets anyways, since I will be with a friend who needs to fly out of Beijing a couple days afterwards, and any delays would mean missing the flight.

[roddy]

Quick note on these tickets - you can buy them via the 代售点 agents scattered around Beijing. They're on the system as Q97 rather than T97 for some reason, but they're there (ticket is still printed as T97). However I've had places refuse to even check on the basis that it's not possible, so you may need to argue / try a different place.

I also wasn't able to buy a ticket two days in advance, which strikes me as odd - I've never seen this train anywhere near full. I got a later ticket, but I'm wondering if maybe these international tickets are taken off the wider sales network and only available from the actual stations as the date approaches. I'm also now thinking I should have had them look up T97 as well as Q97 for the actual date I wanted.

[skylee]

Does it mean that you are going to HK?

[roddy]

Might have been.

The trains were just busy, it turned out - first time I'd taken this route in summer, but they were actually pretty full with a combination of students and families. So much for my 'no need to buy in advance' theory.