April 16th, 2007
On April 18th, 2007, bullet trains will connect Qingdao and Beijing with five other major cities.  According to First Daily, a Beijing newspaper, the CRH (China Railway High-speed) trains will travel at speeds between 200 and 250 Kilometers per hour between the capital and the six cities of Shanghai, Wuhan, Shenyang, Changchun, Harbin and Qingdao.  The Journey between Qingdao and Beijing will take approximately 5 hours and 48 minutes.  Qingdao Railway-Train Schedule

Ticket prices for the bullet trains will cost 50 percent more than the current express trains, which usually travel at 115 kilometers per hour.  Passengers will be allowed to book tickets up to 20 days in advance at designated ticket offices in the cities involved or at the local railway stations.

The Railway Ministry held a press conference on April 12th discussing the preparations for the sixth round of the railway "speed boost" program aimed at increasing the railway system's passenger handling capacity by 18 percent and its cargo capacity by 12 percent.  China has raised the speed limits of trains for the first time since 1997 when most were running at a mere 60 kilometers per hour. 

The Qingdao ShiNan Train station will be closed until June, 2008 for Olympic Games renovation.  The Interium train station is located in SiFang Distrct at 1 HaiAn Lu near the SiFang long distance bus station .  For more information call (+86 532) 8371-7595.