New train line now open

[rgeczi]

I have been waiting for this thing to come online for the longest time.  Read article below.

A TRAIN trip from Shanghai to Hefei City will be reduced by more than two hours after a new railway link opens tomorrow, Eastday.com reported today.

The 166-kilometer Hefei-Nanjing Railway, connecting Nanjing, capital of Jiangsu Province and Hefei, capital of Anhui Province, will cut the trip from Shanghai to Hefei to four-and-a-half hours from nearly six-and-a-half hours, the report said.

Twenty-two passenger trains and five cargo trains will begin to run on the link starting tomorrow until the end of July, the report said. But no bullet trains will be included in the first phase of the link's operation, it added.

In August, six bullet trains will be added to the route of Hefei to Nanjing and Hefei to Shanghai, the report said.

The 4.31-billion-yuan (US$616 million) Hefei-Nanjing Railway is one of three planned intercity rail links to shorten travel from Nanjing to other neighboring cities, promoting regional economic cooperation in eastern China, the report said.

Construction on the link started in July 2005 and was completed in December, almost half a year ahead of schedule, the report said.

The link has four stations along its 119-kilometer section in Anhui and 47 kilometers in Jiangsu, the report said.

Passenger trains on the link will have a maximum speed of 200 kilometers per hour, the report said.

NANJING BURGER KING HERE I COME. 

[Aussie Mike]

The problem at the moment besides that one of trying to get a ticket is, the old trains still have right of way and the fast trains need to wait, reduce speed, to allow the old trains to pass and stick to the existing timetable.  Once the new scheduals have been implimented, the fast trains will have right of way and will take a meare 2 hrs 45 mins EEEXXXPPPRRREEEEESSSSS, with a stop in NanJing.

However, there is rumour that they may not be allowed to travel at full speed and may take a little over 3 hours.  Obviously, the non-express will take longer according to the number stops they make and how long each stop is.

I'm still trying to get a ride on this bugger. Every time I want to travel, no tickets have been available. I guess I should stop travelling during the holidats. 

[rgeczi]

Ok, I just got some news about the trains that run from Hefei to Nanjing.  This just happened, so it is up to date.

A trip to Nanjing from Hefei cost 59RMB, and took 1 hour and 20 minutes.

[tim]

yea with business and so on i need a way to nanjing in like 45 minutes i heard this was possible with the new sino german train company that was suppose to come through now you say its about 1 hours bla!!! thats like here in hefei to fengyang thats takes about 2 hours by some country bus

[rgeczi]

Tim, that train line is set up in phases.  The last phase that you mentioned, with the higher speed trains, will be going online some time in August.  I will let you know if I hear something.

[rgeczi]

Ok, so the newest thing I heard about this train line comes from my wife.  She knows that the service of the "fast trains" from Hefei to Shanghai is now online.  The travel time is around 3 hours, and the prices are 120RMB for I guess a hard seat, and 160RMB for a soft seat.  And I think she said this travels there 3 times a day.  The last part I am not clear about.  The most important thing about this new information is to let people know that it's online now, so go check with whoever you book trips through to verify that this indeed is correct.

Happy riding.

[rgeczi]

Updates on pricing.....

My wife just recently took the bullet train to Shanghai from Hefei, and the price of the tickets were 165RMB and 195RMB, respectively.  The former price is for the hard seating, and the latter is for a softer seat.  I am not sure what else is different between the two, if anything.  She told me that the travel time was around 3 hours, and everything went smoothly.  If she took photos of either the internal, or external part of the train, I will post them on here, if possible.

[Aussie Mike]

You need to upload photo's to another server such is flickr
then use the insert image button to publish the link.

[aLeGnaRoMa]

I got the train schedules from ShangHai (3x daily), but not those from Hefei. Anybody knows the schedules of trains leaving Hefei (to ShangHai)?

Need to know soon cause I'm planning to go to Hefei one weekend probably 2nd week of Sept.

Grazie!

[rgeczi]

For the times from Hefei to Shanghai, my wife only vaguely (sp?) recalls them, and they are, 8:24AM (for sure because she took this one), 11:??AM, and around 5:00 - 6:00PM for the last one.

Hope this helps some.

[aLeGnaRoMa]

^^ That's great. Thanks for the immediate response.

BTW, here's the schedule from ShangHai to Hefei:

D478/D479     0714 - 1041
D482/D483     1158 - 1522
D486             1818 - 2117

[wizard]

I have travelled from ShangHai to HeFei it was great, better than waiting to board a plane and being squeezed in.

I am going back on Tuesday;                                               DEPART   ARRIVE

Here is the HeFei to ShangHai schedule:           D477                  8:24         11:23
                                                                 D481/484         14:14         17:48
                                                                 D 485/488        18:53         22:17

Happy Travels

[rgeczi]

Wizard, thanks for the correct times.

I agree with you that this is a better option than plane.  I have traveled to Shanghai via plane in the past, and for the price it was, compared to this new train line, I would rather take the extra time to see some things along the way, and keep some extra money that was saved for shopping or whatnot.  Because I am a big guy, I had to ask for a safety buckle extension (the ones they use to demonstrate how to snap together before take-off).  Embarrasing.

New train line.....you have my vote. 

[aLeGnaRoMa]

Great! Thanks for that, wizard.

[rgeczi]

It has been quite a while since someone posted anything new in this thread, but since I went to Shanghai this month, I thought I would update some info about the "fast train".

The train from Hefei To Shanghai:

D3021 (2:55pm departure time, from what I took) - Took a shade over 3 hours to get there, making around 7 stops in between, or so.  Pricing is 160RMB for usual seating, and 192RMB for upgraded one.  The upgraded one has an electrical outlet overhead, near the window side area, that you can plug in a charger for a laptop, cell phone, or whatever.  Also, the head rest seems nicer than the other, more curved, for a more relaxing time.  Legroom was more or less the same though.

The train from Shanghai To Hefei:

D5492 (6:40pm departure time, from what I took) - Info is same as above, in terms of travel time, pricing, and so on.