Additional Night High-Speed Trains for May Day Holiday: A Complete Travel Guide

As the May Day holiday approaches, China Railway is set to operate numerous additional night high-speed trains to ease transportation pressure and meet passengers’ travel demands. For those planning to take these night trains, questions such as how to buy tickets, when to arrive at the station and what considerate services are available have become a top concern. This guide compiles key information to help passengers travel smoothly. China Railway News reported that the additional inter-city night high-speed trains adopt a phased ticketing system based on directions.

Ticket sales for some of these trains start 7 days before departure, while others go on sale 5 days in advance. Passengers can check and purchase tickets via the 12306 Railway App. Take the night high-speed train from Shanghai Hongqiao Station to Nanjing South Station on May 6 as an example; tickets will be available for purchase on April 30 and May 2 respectively, so passengers are advised to set a reminder to buy tickets on time.

A common confusion among passengers is the boarding time for "midnight tickets". China Daily explained that train departure times on tickets follow the 24-hour system, meaning that after 24:00 on a given day, it enters the next day. For instance, Train D9482 from Shanghai to Xuzhou departs at 00:01 on April 30, so passengers need to go to Shanghai Hongqiao Station to wait for the train on the evening of April 29.

The 12306 Railway App offers a convenient reminder function to help passengers avoid missing their trains. Passengers can open the homepage of the 12306 App, find the information of the train they will take, enter the "Travel Service" page, and click "Add to Calendar" in the upper right corner to set a schedule reminder. Once set, the trip information will be automatically synced to the mobile phone calendar, which will send a reminder on time.

To ensure a comfortable journey for passengers taking night trains, China Railway has launched a series of considerate services. During the peak passenger flow period, many railway stations will operate 24 hours a day to meet the waiting needs of passengers arriving at night. China National Railway Group Corporation stated that in the Yangtze River Delta region, service facilities such as toilets and water dispensers in the waiting areas of stations including Shanghai Hongqiao, Nanjing South and Hangzhou East are open 24 hours a day.

Stations provide round-the-clock manual ticket sales, ticket changes, refunds and services for key passengers. The crew of the Shanghai Passenger Transport Section in charge of night high-speed train services will fully implement "quiet" operations, keeping low voices when walking, communicating and operating to ensure passengers have a comfortable trip in the carriage at night. In addition, the train crew is equipped with practical items such as chargers, steam eye masks and sewing kits for passengers’ emergency use.

Trains also offer special supplies including hot coffee, milk tea, fresh fruits, bread and biscuits to meet passengers’ dietary needs. The operation of additional night high-speed trains not only eases transportation pressure but also provides a new travel idea. Passengers can regard night high-speed trains as "mobile hotels", travel during the day and take the train back at night, allowing them to enjoy both travel and rest. A gentle reminder: passenger flow at some stations is large during peak hours, so passengers are advised to reserve sufficient time to enter the station and board the train.