Xi'an East Railway Station will be equipped with 13 platforms with 27 railway tracks. Now, the station is undergoing decoration work.

Simultaneously, Xi'an - Shiyan High Speed Railway and Xi'an - Ankang High Speed Railway will be put into use. With the operation of all the mentioned, the travel time from Xi'an to Wuhan will be halved from 5 hours to 2.5 hours; it will only take around 1 hour to shuttle between Xi'an and Shiyan, where Wudang Mountain is located; and passengers traveling from Xi'an to Chongqing will only need to spend 3 hours on board instead of the current 5 hours.

And it will end on March 13, with February 13 and 23 as busiest days. During the 40-day travel rush, China trains are expected to serve 539 million passengers in total, a year-on-year increase of 5%.

Beijing, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Shanghai, Nanjing, and Hangzhou will see the largest flow before Chinese New Year holiday from February 15 to 22, after which passengers concentrate in Chengdu, Chongqing, Wuhan, Nanchang, etc. The busiest train routes include Xi'an to Chengdu/Taiyuan, Dalian to Harbin, and Qingdao to Shanghai.

For tourists planning a China railway trip during this period, it's wise to avoid the hottest destinations and routes above. Meanwhile, book train tickets as soon as they are released, and get to the departure station at least 2 hours in advance for boarding procedures.

The schedule is to be adopted in the first quarter of 2026, according to which 12,130 trains in total will run on China's railway network. Main adjustments are as follows:

1. Yan'an will be connected with the capital city of Beijing by high speed train for the first time. The shortest travel time is only 5h42m, reducing by 4h37m from the normal trains running now. Similarly, passengers shuttling between Fuzhou/ Xiamen - Zhuhai can take direct bullet trains for a more efficient trip.

2. Between Shanghai and Hong Kong, the overnight high speed sleeper trains that originally operated on Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays, and Mondays will serve daily. What's more, two additional Shanghai - HK bullet trains will run in the daytime, with stops at Nanjing South, Hefei South, Wuxi East, etc. Since then, passengers will be able to transfer between Hong Kong West Kowloon Railway Station and 110 railway stations in Chinese Mainland by bullet train.

3. Four high speed G trains will be added between Changbaishan and Beijing Chaoyang, and 14 more will stop at Yabuli West.

4. It will take 9h37m to travel from Shanghai Hongqiao to Lanzhou West by bullet train, 57 minutes shorter than those operating at present, and 8h51m from Datong South to Shanghai Hongqiao, 2h33m shorter.

At the end of December 2025, five new high speed rail lines were put into operation, linking Shantou - Shanwei, Guangzhou - Zhanjiang, Wuhan - Yichang, Hangzhou - Quzhou, and Xi'an - Yan'an. As of now, China's high speed railway network totals over 50,000 km (31,069 mi), ranking first in the world and surpassing the combined total of all other countries'. By now, more than 97% of China's cities with populations over 500,000 in their urban areas can be reached by high speed train.

Bullet trains along the new 5 lines have a top running speed of 350 km/h (217 mph). Therefore, it now only takes 1h52m from Guangzhou East to Shantou, 1h39m from Shenzhen to Shantou, and 1h32m from Guangzhou Baiyun to Zhanjiang North. The travel time between Wuhan and Yichang has also been significantly reduced from 2h to 1h9m. For passengers shuttling from Hangzhou West to Quzhou West, only 73 minutes are needed onboard. The shortest duration of bullet trains running from Xi'an North to Yan'an is 68 minutes, reducing by 1 hour from normal speed trains in operation.

In addition, 2 high speed rail lines: Hefei - Sixian and Beijing - Tangshan high speed railways will be put into service before the arrival of 2026.

The railway line has a total length of 519 kilometers (322 miles), with 13 stations midway. At the beginning, 12 high speed trains run along the railway daily, with a maximum speed of 250 km/h (155 mph). The travel time between Baotou and Yinchuan has been reduced from 5h52m to 2h38m.

Besides, with the operation of Baotou - Yinchuan high speed rail line, passengers only need to spend 4h3m to travel from Hohhot to Yinchuan and 7h27m from Hohhot to Lanzhou by bullet trains, which is cut by 3h54m and 2h59m, respectively.

Four pairs of high speed trains run at the early stage, shortening the travel time between Nanning, the capital city of Guangxi Autonomous Region, and Pingxiang, a border city between China and Vietnam, to 1h15m from over 4h by normal speed train. The main stops midway include Liuzhou, Guilin, Beihai, and Longzhou.

It means that passengers traveling between Nanning and Hanoi have more choices, other than the direct international trains T8701/ T8702. You can take a high speed train to get to Pingxiang from Nanning first, and then transfer to Friendship Pass by taxi, after passing the border check, take a car or bus to Hanoi directly.

Reduced train ticket price has been implemented on over 1,300 trains as of November 2025 during the low season.

For instance, the ticket price of second class and first class seats of Train No. G658 from Xi'an North to Beijing West are discounted by CNY 32 and CNY 51, respectively; the price for second class seat of No. G8111 from Shenyang North to Changbaishan is CNY 86 lower than the original fare; the lowest ticket price for second class seats on trains running from Changsha to Zhangjiajie is CNY 16 lower than the original one; and that from Changsha to Guangzhou is CNY 66 lower.

Other trains sold at reduced fare include C3611 from Shanghai to Hengdian, from Jiayuguan South to Lanzhou West, from Lanzhou West to Xi'an North, from Wenzhou North to Wuhu, from Luoyang to Zhengzhou, D8517 from Harbin West to Mudanjiang…

However, China Railway Corporation offers a small discount or no discount on those bullet trains in great demand with shorter travel time or better timetable, like G111 from Beijing South to Shanghai Hongqiao, G39 from Beijing South to Hangzhou East, G77/G78 between Beijing and Guangzhou, G55/G56 between Beijing and Xi'an, etc. Passengers can search for the real-time train schedule and the latest ticket prices at TravelChinaGuide.com.

These trains run between Chengdu East/ Chengdu West/ Shuangliu Airport Railway Station and Huanglongjiuzhai/ Songpan Railway Station, serving passengers who plan to appreciate the beautiful autumn leaves in the Jiuzhaigou scenic area during its golden viewing season. The first departure heading to Jiuzhaigou from Chengdu East sets off as early as 6:01 am, and the last one back to Chengdu leaves at 23:39.

After getting off the train at either Huanglongjiuzhai or Songpan Railway Station, passengers can take the direct tourist bus to easily reach Jiuzhaigou and Huanglong scenic spots.

According to the new schedule, more than 13,000 passenger trains run every day nationwide. Some main adjustments include:
1. With the operation of Shenyang - Changbaishan high speed railway line on September 28, 2025, the travel time of Beijing - Changbaishan high speed trains has been shortened to 4.5 hours.
2. Passengers in Chengdu and Chongqing can easily get to Changsha, Nanchang, Shantou, and more central and southern cities by direct bullet train running along Chongqing - Qianjiang line.
3. On Xiangyang - Jingmen high speed railway, which was open on September 28, 2025, up to 26 bullet trains run.
4. More high speed Fuxinghao trains with fewer stops and shorter durations are added between Hangzhou East - Changsha South and Beijing - Shenyang.

As part of Shenyang - Jiamusi High Speed Railway in northeast China, this 430-kilometer-long (267-mile) railway line starts from Shenyang North Railway Station and ends at Changbaishan Railway Station with 8 stops at Fushun, Tonghua, Changbaishan West, etc.

At present, 56 high speed trains are running on this line daily with a top speed of 350 km/h (217 mph), 2 pairs of which stretch to/from Beijing Chaoyang Railway Station. Passengers can arrive at Changbaishan Railway Station from Beijing Chaoyang Station and Shenyang North Station by bullet train in 4h33m and 1h53m, respectively.

As a transportation hub for tourists visiting Changbai Mountain, Changbaishan Railway Station is only about 7 - 8 km (4 - 5 mi) away from Changbai Mountain North Slope. From the railway station, tourists can get to the distribution center of the scenic area by bus No.1 easily with a duration of 30 - 40 minutes and a cost of CNY 1. If by taxi, it takes about 15 minutes and costs around CNY 25.