Everything To Know About The High-Speed Rail Overnight Sleeper Trains

Cutting travel time to Beijing and Shanghai by half, get the deets on train timings, MTR Mobile’s ticket giveaway and more…

Looking for a weekend getaway to Beijing or Shanghai but don’t want to bother booking flight tickets? The High Speed Rail recently launched overnight sleeper trains running every Friday evening and returning Monday morning linking to the Mainland hubs. And to celebrate, MTR Mobile is giving away 50 sets (25 for Beijing and 25 for Shanghai) of round-trip tickets for two, keep reading to know where and how to sign up, ticket redemption and more.

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MTR Mobile High Speed Rail Tickets Giveaway: Dates, Redemption And How To Enter

MTR Mobile’s first two rounds of tickets giveaway saw fingers tapping on the dot so you’ll want to have your alarms set for the third and final round of tickets giveaway on Tuesday, 25 June starting from noon. There will be 25 sets of tickets to Beijing and another 25 sets for Shanghai up for grabs.

To enter, download the MTR app (Apple or Google Play) and sign up as a registered user (you might want to do this prior to 25 June just to save time!) and you’ll find the “Grab Now” button after selecting Beijing or Shanghai in the “Promotions” section. If you’ve been successful, you’ll find your eCoupons by tapping the app’s “Gift” logo (under the “Valid” tab on homepage). 

You’ll have to go in-person to the West Kowloon Station between Thursday, 27 June and Tuesday, 2 July to claim your tickets – bring along your eCoupon and valid travel documents (passport or HKID) of yourself and your travel partner. The tickets can be used to travel on Friday, 5 July and return Monday, 8 July.

Ticket Costs And Travel Time To Shanghai & Beijing From Hong Kong

To travel using the High Speed Rail at your own time, the trains depart every Friday evening from Hong Kong and arrive back on Monday mornings. Journey time to Beijing is roughly 12 and a half hours and around 11 hours to Shanghai, with stops in Shenzhen, Guangzhou and a couple other stops along the way. See the table below for the train schedule and find more information here.

Facilities Onboard The Overnight Sleeper Trains

The sleeper trains consist of 16 cars, 13 of which are sleepers, one dining car and two second-class seated cars. Second-class trains without a sleeper cost from $682, sleeper trains on the upper bunk start at $878 and premium cars can go up to $2,128. The normal sleeper cabins have two bunk beds, one table and kettle whereas the premium cabins come with one bunk bed, a sofa, wardrobe and kettle.

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Other Destinations In Mainland China To Travel To Using The High Speed Rail

The High Speed Rail connects Hong Kong with 78 Mainland stations, including Shenzhen (arriving in about 15 minutes!), Guangzhou, Chengdu, Foshan, Guilin, Leshan and more – see the full list here.

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