High-speed train D695 carrying 419 passengers from Xiamen, Fujian Province, arrived at Shenzhen North Railway Station at 11:50 a.m. Saturday. The travel time took 2 hours and 52 minutes.
The train is one of the six pairs of trains that were added to run between Shenzhen and Xiamen under the country’s new operation schedule that took effect Saturday.
The pairs are D695/6, D693/4, D662/1, D666/5, D664/3 and D668/7.
The train speeds have been increased to 250 kilometers per hour under the new operation schedule. Among the 38 trains running from Xiamen to Shenzhen North Railway Station, more trains run the route within 3 hours. For the fastest trains, namely D663 and D693, the trip from Xiamen North Railway Station to Shenzhen is 2 hours and 30 minutes.
Before implementation of the new schedule, the trip between the two cities generally took about 4 hours.
“The acceleration of speed will stimulate tourism as we can save travel time,” a college student surnamed Hu said.
For people who often commute on the Xiamen-Shenzhen railway, the operator has offered tickets that can be used for 20 times within 90 days and tickets that can be used for a maximum of 60 times within 30 days at the railway ticketing website www.12306.cn.