The high price of the airline-style meals served on plastic trays on China's high-speed trains has stirred heated discussion on the Internet as the 2016 Spring Festival travel rush kicked off.

Since the first day of 2015, China Railway Corporation has implemented "quality standards of railway transport passenger service", of which, Article 9.1.7 says: 2 yuan pre-packaged drinking water and 15 yuan plastic tray meals are served throughout. How about the actual situation?

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On Jan. 22, when a reporter from Jiangsu TV went to the dining carriage to buy meals just ten minutes after boarding the G7145 from Nanjing to Shanghai,  he was told by a crew member: Today's 15 yuan lunch are all sold out.

Reporter: The 15 yuan tray meals are said to be served along the whole journey, is this not the case? We're looking for a simple meal.

Conductor: You’ll need to wait until we've arrived in Shanghai when they’ll be replenished.

Reporter: I’m getting off at Shanghai. So what are the options for tray meals then?

Conductor: We only do replenishment at major stations such as Shanghai and Nanjing. On our way to Nanjing, there are several [15 yuan meals] but we do not have enough time for the replenishment in Nanjing. Would you like to have some snacks or a can of instant porridge instead?

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The train was just leaving Nanjing, all 15 yuan plastic tray meals were said to be sold out. Was it true that the crew did not prepare well or they didn't plan to sell this kind of meal from the outset?

When the reporter tried to buy a bottle of water, the conductor first gave him a bottle priced six. Then the reporter asked if there were cheaper ones. The conductor gave him a bottle of two yuan water and explained that six yuan is for a bigger bottle of water....

The 12306 Hotline responded to the reporter’s complaint, saying there was no provision that the 15 yuan plastic tray meals should be continuously served by the Shanghai Railway nor across the whole country.

This begs the question: Should we believe the official document of China Railway Corporation or the reply from its 12306 Hotline?

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In fact, most Chinese passengers prefer to bring their own food with instant noodles, a popular choice, as boiling water is readily available. However, China Railway Corporation has removed instant noodles from its menus during the Spring Festival travel period this year, which falls between Jan. 24 and March 3.

"The smell of instant noodles is strong. Thus, it's not good for the air quality inside the trains. And some people may not feel comfortable with that smell," said a crew member. But crew members cannot stop passengers having their own food on board.