Beijing – Shanghai Train vs. Plane
According to the announcement of the Beijing-Shanghai high-speed railway, after the implementation of the floating fare mechanism, the highest executive ticket price of the second-class train from Beijing South Station to Shanghai Hongqiao Station is adjusted to 598 yuan, and the lowest executive ticket price is adjusted to 498 yuan.
For travel, trains and planes are the most common options, but how do you choose between the two?
By comparing the fare, travel time and on-time rate of flights and trains between Beijing and Shanghai, how to choose?
The train between Beijing and Shanghai
At present, between Beijing and Shanghai, check at 12306 one week in advance, you can book 42 trains, and there are enough remaining tickets.
From Beijing south to Shanghai Hongqiao, the mileage is 1318 kilometers, the G-head high-speed train, the second-class seat is 553 yuan, the first-class seat is 933 yuan, the shortest running time is 4 hours 18 minutes.
D bullet train, Beijing Station to Shanghai Hongqiao D701, second class seat 248 yuan, hard sleeper upper berth 372 yuan, soft sleeper upper berth 472 yuan, evening departure, running 12 hours.
It needs to be pointed out in particular that Beijing to Shanghai D train, if you take on Friday, the ticket price will rise, second class seat 293 yuan, hard sleeper sleeper 440 yuan, soft sleeper sleeper 558 yuan.
Z, T, K train pricing mechanism is the same, Z281 and T109, Beijing to Shanghai hard seat 177.5 yuan, hard berth 304.5 yuan, soft berth 476.5 yuan, running time of nearly 15 hours.
The number of digital trains, known as the “Beijing and Shanghai God car” 1461 times, hard seat 156.5 yuan, hard berth 283.5 yuan, soft berth 455.5 yuan, the operation time is 19 hours and 5 minutes.
From the number of trains, the current Beijing to Shanghai a total of 43 trains a day, of which 38 G trains, D trains 2 times, Z and T trains 1 time each, the express train 1 time.
There is no doubt that the high-speed train is the main force between Beijing and Shanghai.
Flights on the Beijing-Shanghai line
Take a look at the flight situation between Beijing and Shanghai, the current number of daily flights in more than 60, covering the Capital Airport, Daxing Airport departure, Pudong and Hongqiao airport arrival.
From the price point of view, one week in advance, the minimum fare of economy class including taxes and fees is 370 yuan, there are 15 flights below 550 yuan, and the maximum full price of economy class is 1660 yuan.
According to the time of the flight schedule, the flight time is about 2 hours and 20 minutes.
Price comparison
In most cases, price is the first consideration, so let’s compare prices.
Because the train adopts a relatively fixed price, even if the future floating ticket price, the second-class seat floating range is between 498 yuan and 598 yuan, and the current 553 yuan is not much different.
This advantage is reflected in the statutory holidays, National Day, Spring Festival, although the train is difficult to get a ticket, but at least not price.
The price of air tickets is much more flexible, completely according to the market to discount pricing, the off-season ticket price of less than 500 yuan, to screenshot flights, for example, including the airport construction fee of less than 550 yuan flights there are 12, accounting for nearly 1/5 of the 66 flights throughout the day.
If you look at the current ticket price of 933 yuan for first-class high-speed rail seats, there are 49 flights with taxes and fees less than 950 yuan, accounting for 70% of all day flights.
Since it is to follow the market, there are cheap times when there are expensive times, every statutory holidays and holidays, the price of air tickets will go up collectively, and most of the flight fares will exceed the high-speed rail fares.
Travel takes time to compare
Travel by train under normal circumstances, drive 45 minutes before arriving at the train station, time will be very ample;
After the train arrives at the station, walk directly out of the station, 15 minutes can basically get out of the station, and the time before and after arrival adds up to about 1 hour.
If you take the fastest G17, it will take 4 hours and 18 minutes, for a total of 5 hours and 18 minutes.
There are also some trains that run between 4 hours 28 and 4 hours 43 minutes, which works out to be between 5.5 and 6 hours.
Beijing-shanghai flight of the aircraft, most of the current 45 minutes before the departure stop check-in, if according to the 15 minutes through the security calculation, then reserve 15 minutes for check-in procedures (such as no support operation can be omitted this step), so calculated, at least 75 minutes before the flight to the airport. The actual flight time between Beijing and Shanghai is about 1 and a half hours, including the taxi time after landing, about 2 hours to land; From the departure to the arrival gate on foot, the journey took 3.5 hours, based on an average of 15 minutes.
Of course, this time is the most optimistic time, most people will still reserve a richer time, personal experience, from the arrival of the airport to leave the airport, the time is about 4 hours.
In terms of time comparison, the plane has a slight advantage, saving about 1-2 hours compared with the high-speed rail.
If you take into account the location of Daxing Airport and Pudong Airport, for some friends, this 1-2 hours of time advantage may be lost.
On-time rate
Punctuality rate, which is a very influential factor in travel experience, from the current situation, the punctuality rate of flights is lower than that of high-speed trains.
From the factors affecting the on-time rate, high-speed rail is mainly affected by weather factors, extreme weather such as wind and rain will lead to train delays or even suspension, but in general, flights will certainly be delayed in a large area.
For flights, in addition to weather factors, air traffic control, mechanical failure, etc., will also affect the on-time rate of flights.
Therefore, insurance companies have launched a large number of aviation delay insurance products, but it seems that no insurance company has high-speed rail delay insurance products, from the on-time rate, high-speed rail comprehensively crushed the aircraft.
What about trains and planes
The time requirement is not strict, it is recommended to choose which is cheap, and under normal circumstances, the aircraft will be the first choice.
If you have strict requirements on time, such as rushing to a blind date or business negotiation, especially during the thunderstorm season, it is recommended to choose high-speed rail first, after all, the on-time rate is guaranteed.
Holiday travel, start in advance of high-speed rail tickets, early 12306 grab tickets is the most appropriate, before and after the schedule is good.
Competition between air and rail
The Beijing-Shanghai high-speed railway runs through the three municipalities directly under the central government of Beijing, Tianjin and Shanghai and the four provinces of Hebei, Shandong, Anhui and Jiangsu, connecting the two economic zones of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region and the Yangtze River Delta. The regional economic growth is fast, the population density is high, and the degree of urbanization is high. More than four hours of running time between Beijing and Shanghai is just the critical point of competition between high-speed rail and civil aviation flights.
If the high-speed rail operation time is within the range of 3 hours, the time advantage of the aircraft is basically no longer, such as Beijing to Zhengzhou, Shanghai to Hefei and other routes, sailing has been very few, but the competition is not high-speed rail.
On the other hand, if the high-speed rail operation time is more than 6 hours of the route, the time advantage of the plane begins to appear, coupled with the flexible fare mechanism of the plane, on the long-distance route, the train is still difficult to replace the plane.
About Other trips：