Shanghai’s Railway Bureau has tried to clear up confusion caused by reports that ticket sales for the new Shanghai-Nanjing high-speed rail services were to be suspended from July 11, 2010.
Authorities denied the news, saying that they were, in fact, only shortening the lead time to pre-order tickets and were working to add 13 trains to the current set of trains and enhance timetables. At press time, there is reportedly only one train pair operating between the two hubs.
As reported in our news yesterday, passengers have balked at the price difference between a fast-speed train fare (CNY146/US$21.54) for both express and non-express service and a Standard D-class ticket on a regular train service which costs CNY93/US$13.70.
They also observed that with a number of stops added between Shanghai and Nanjing, the promised travel time of 73 to 75 minutes stretched to up to 130 minutes. Between paying an increased fare and experiencing little difference in travel time, some traveller were quoted saying they preferred to take the regular train service.
Shanghai rail officials have promised to increase the number of express trains between Shanghai and Nanjing, although they did not say when.
Margie T Logarta
