South China train to get speed boost

Travel time between cities of Guiyang, Guangzhou to be slashed by 31 minutes

A major high-speed railway linking China's southwestern region and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area is set to have its operating speed increased and new ticket types introduced to improve its capacity and efficiency, according to the national railway operator.

The 857-kilometer line, linking Guiyang, Guizhou province and Guangzhou, Guangdong province, will have its operating speed increased to 300 km/h from 250 km/h as of Wednesday, according to China State Railway Group.

The travel time between the two cities will be reduced by 31 minutes to a total time of 3 hours and 39 minutes.

The line, which opened in December 2014, is an important high-speed rail corridor between southwestern China and the GBA.The increased speed will also reduce travel times between Guangzhou and other major cities such as Chengdu, capital of Sichuan province, and Chongqing.

The travel time between Guangzhou and Chengdu will be reduced to less than 7 hours, and from Guangzhou to Chongqing to about 5 hours and 40 minutes.

After the upgrade project, 177 trains will be scheduled on the line during off-peak times, and as many as 189 trains will be scheduled during peak times.

During the just-concluded Mid-Autumn and National Day holiday period, 141 million trips were made by rail nationwide from Sept 29 to Oct 6, with the average number of daily trips soaring 158 percent year-on-year to top 17.64 million, according to the Ministry of Transport.

"The train was very crowded, and I was only able to snap up a standing ticket at first," said Hou Qingjuan, who works in Beijing and traveled home to Liaocheng, Shandong province, during the holiday.

"But luckily some passengers got off along the way and I was able to secure a bunk ticket after one stop," she said.

Hou said the train she took was a temporary service arranged especially for the holiday.

"I was unable to get a ticket at first and planned to take a bus home. But a colleague told me that some more trains were added, and then I checked and secured a ticket successfully," she said.