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Oscar Liu

Online tickets for the first three high-speed sleeper trains travelling from Hong Kong to Beijing sold out fast on Wednesday morning, while some elderly residents hoping for smoother travel queued at West Kowloon station before counters opened.
The new train services from Hong Kong to Beijing and Shanghai were announced on Tuesday, with online and in-person sales starting from 12pm the next day.
A check of the main sales channel, the 12306 China Railway website and app, showed all Beijing-bound tickets departing on June 15 to 17 had sold out.
There were five lower deck sleeper tickets available on Shanghai-bound trains on June 15 and two for June 16 at 8.40pm on Wednesday. The website showed some tickets were also still available for June 17.
Each train has about 600 seats, but the Post has learned that some tickets on the first trains have been reserved for stakeholders to trial the service.
The sleeper train option is more expensive than flights. There were at least 20 non-stop, return flights between Hong Kong and Shanghai on June 15, costing between HK$1,125 (US$144) and HK$2,700 including taxes and other charges.
There were at least 24 choices of direct, return tickets to Beijing on the same day, with about 10 flights costing between HK$1,555 and HK$3,000.
The Post also saw about four groups of elderly people queuing at the city’s high-speed rail terminus at around 11am on Wednesday to buy tickets for the new services.
Retired Ho Shek arrived at West Kowloon station at 9.30am, 2½ hours before tickets went on sale, so he could get a spot on the first train to Shanghai and the 88-year-old was able to claim second place in the queue.
“I am thrilled that an overnight train is available so that we can sleep through the journey and arrive in the morning,” he said, adding he planned to visit Shanghai with his wife on June 15.
“We want to stay there for two weeks and spend time with our son and our daughter-in-law. We haven’t been back home for a few years.”
Ho said the lower-bunk sleeper ticket to Shanghai could be pricey and take more time than flying, but the new service appeared to offer less hassle.
“The tickets are pricey, it would be great and reasonable if they sell at the range from HK$700 to HK$800.”
Starting from June 15, the two new services will operate from Friday to Monday each week and travel from Hong Kong’s West Kowloon terminus to Beijing West and Shanghai Hongqiao railway stations.
The respective journeys will take around 12½ hours and 11 hours, with trains offering regular seats and a range of sleeper cabins.


Retired Li Shiu-kei, who was fourth in the queue for tickets, said he wanted to take his wife to Beijing.
“I don’t feel safe taking flights. Rail feels much safer. I used to drive from Shenzhen to Beijing. It took a week and I slept wherever I stopped,” the 85-year-old said. “So the train is definitely the most convenient and comfortable way to travel.
“I like to try new things. When there were the old through-trains services, I also took the first one to Beijing.”
Lawmaker Michael Tien Puk-sun said he was unable to book a train carriage for a family of four on the service’s website as the option required speaking to staff at the station counter.
“It is not convenient for the public, especially family travellers. They might be forced to sit or sleep apart from each other,” he said.
The legislator called for online services to be enhanced, such as including an option for group bookings.
Lawmaker Gary Zhang Xinyu, who sits on the Legislative Council’s transport affairs panel, predicted business travellers would form the services’ main customer base and urged authorities to consider expanding the schedule to run throughout the week.
“While the concept is new to Hong Kong, these sleeper trains are quite popular in mainland China among businesspeople travelling between first-tier cities because of their time efficiency,” he told a radio programme on Wednesday.
The legislator argued that while return trips from Shanghai via plane or sleeper train were similar, the latter option meant business travellers could carry on working, save spending on a hotel room and head straight to morning meetings without the hassle of passing through the airport.
Zhang said he was confident about the need for the sleeper trains, as the current daily daytime trains between Hong Kong and the two mainland cities had already seen fair demand.
“One area of improvement would be to ensure the quality of the journey, for example, the comfort and hygiene levels, especially in the bathrooms, which are important to business travellers,” he said.

The new services were also met with excitement from mainland tourists, with some users on Chinese social media platform Xiaohongshu saying they were planning frequent weekend trips to Hong Kong thanks to the trains’ speed and convenience.
“[They] brought our ideas to life, you can sleep and then arrive in Hong Kong!” one user said.
Others said the new trains appeared to be safer than flying after incidents involving planes being affected by strong turbulence, although some were sceptical about the fares.
“If the train tickets exceed HK$1,000, then I’d rather take a plane instead,” one user said.
Concerns were also raised about sharing rooms with strangers and the standard of hygiene in train cars and bathrooms.

The Hong Kong-Beijing service will stop at five other cities – Shenzhen, Dongguan, Guangzhou, Changsha and Shijiazhuang.
To go to Beijing, the ticket costs HK$937 for a second-class seat, HK$1,031 for an upper-deck sleeper and HK$1,163 for a lower-deck sleeper between June 15 and 17.
The price for the latter two will go up on Sunday, June 16, and will range between HK$1,163 and HK$1,306.
To go to Shanghai, a second-class seat will cost HK$682 on Saturday, June 15, and Monday, June 17, while the ticket price for sleeper carriages ranges from HK$878 to HK$1,821.
The price of the sleeper train service for Sunday, June 16, is between HK$1,009 and HK$2,128.
Additional reporting by Ambrose Li, Lo Hoi-ying and Alice Kong


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Hong Kong transport

High-speed sleeper train tickets for Hong Kong to Beijing sell out fast online, as elderly wait hours before counters open

Residents head to West Kowloon station to buy tickets for the new high-speed sleeper trains. Photo: Elson Li

Retiree Ho Shek and his wife plan to take a trip to Shanghai to see their son and daughter-in-law. Photo: Elson Li

A toilet area in one of the new high-speed sleeper trains. Photo: Handout

Land or air? The Post weighs up options as China Railway launches new high-speed sleeper train from Hong Kong to Beijing, Shanghai

Hong Kong prepares to launch high-speed sleeper services to Beijing and Shanghai. Photo: Handout

Sleeper cabins on trains to be used on services between Hong Kong and Beijing, as well to Shanghai. Photo: Handout

High-speed sleeper trains to depart Hong Kong at night, arrive in Beijing, Shanghai in morning from June 15

A view of a sleeper carriage for the new China Railway overnight service between Hong Kong, Beijing and Shanghai. Photo: MTR

A sleeping compartment of the type to be used on the new overnight services between Hong Kong and Beijing and Shanghai. Photo: MTR

The dining carriage on one of the trains. Two high-speed return services are at present available between Hong Kong and Beijing every day, but without sleeper carriages. Photo: Handout 

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Hong Kong

Transport

Hong Kong Economy

New overnight trains with sleeper carriages to take 12½ hours to Beijing and 11 hours to Shanghai
Services also met with excitement from mainland tourists, with some on social media app Xiaohongshu saying they are planning frequent weekend trips to Hong Kong


New overnight trains with sleeper carriages to take 12½ hours to Beijing and 11 hours to Shanghai.


Hong Kong high-speed rail

Hong Kong economy