Apparently, the codes on Chinese train tickets mean something. I have mostly taken the cheapest ones so I don’t really know most of the others. However, what I do know, is that lines starting with K stand for Kuai 快 or “fast”, however, in reality, these are probably one of the slower ones. T is for Te 特 for “express service” which is a little faster than the K, these don’t stop at all stations which explains the speed difference. The train I will be taking here at the Beijing South Railway Station is the D train. The D is for Dong 动 or “move”.
The D trains are probably one of the most modern trains that China has in their fleet. I was truly impressed when I walked down to the train and I saw what was a high speed train. It was my first time taking one ever and this got me really excited. The trains were shiny new and looked extremely cool. It was like boarding a plane and they even have attendants to show you the way. The inside of the train looked much like the inside of an airplane.
The seats were nice and clean for a change, and it seems to be okay to put your stuff on the floor. It has much more leg room than an airplane with a bigger window to match. I was fortunate to sit by the window as our train was preparing to leave. What was best was this train was absolutely no smoking and people actually follow it. I guess once I get a taste of high speed rail travel in China, I might not want to go back to K class anymore. I hope they continue expanding their network, so that high speed and high quality rail travel will be accessible to more people.
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