High-speed trains unpopular among students

The high price of high-speed train tickets are forcing students on tight budgets to purchase bus tickets for their trips home during winter vacation, "The Shanghai Evening Post" reports.

A student ticket for the high-speed train from Shanghai to Nanjing, for instance, costs at least 110 yuan (US$16), while the price of a bus ticket is about 75 yuan (US$11), said a college student surnamed Huang from eastern China's Yangtze River Delta.

China's high-speed trains greatly reduce travel time, although they cost more than tickets for regular trains. The high-speed train from Shanghai to Nanjing costs 40 yuan (US$6) more than a ticket on the regular train, but shortens the travel time from more than two hours to about one hour.

Students usually return home during their winter vacation by express or ordinary trains, but most of these have been replaced by high-speed trains, as China expands its regional high-speed rail network.

Many students who attend universities in the region have plenty of time but limited funds for traveling, so they must take buses instead of high-speed trains.

More than 50 percent of the trains that originate in Shanghai are now high-speed ones, leaving students few alternative methods of travel, Huang said.

The Yangtze River Delta composed of Shanghai city, Jiangsu and Zhejiang province is one of the most developed regions in China. A high-speed train from Shanghai to Hangzhou, capital of Zhejiang Province, started operating in October, while one from Shanghai and Nanjing, capital of Jiangsu Province, began operating in July.Source:CRIENGLISH.com