The national railway service within China, operated by the Ministry of Railways, is extensive and new high-speed tracks are being built (at a total cost of RMB 1 trillion) across the nation to improve access and reduce journey times. From 18 April 2007, China will boost the speed of its rail system for the sixth time. Passenger trains on ordinary lines will run at around 200kph (124mph), and on trunk lines at 250kph (155mph) an hour. Beijing has two main railway stations - with an underground rail link between them currently being constructed. Undergoing renovation and expansion, Beijing Railway Station (tel: (10) 6512 9525 - Chinese language only) serves routes to the north and east of the city and the newer Beijing West Railway Station (tel: (10) 6321 6253 - Chinese language only), which is Asia's largest rail terminal, serves the south and west. Other stations in Beijing serve the suburban routes. Both main stations have left-luggage facilities, ATMs, tourist information, shops and restaurants. All Chinese express trains have four different classes - soft sleeper, soft seat, hard sleeper and hard seat. Tickets can be bought at the foreigners' booking office in each station; passports are required to make the purchase. Reservations, especially for sleepers, should be made two or three days in advance. An excellent English-language train timetable can be found online (website: www.ctrip.com).

Rail services: Trans-Manchurian services to Moscow (journey time - 6 days) and Trans-Mongolian trains to Ulan Bator and Moscow (journey time - 5 days) leave from Beijing Railway Station, as do trains to Pyongyang in North Korea (journey time - 25 hours). The China-Tibet railway (website: www.chinatibettrain.com) opened in 2006 and can be joined at Beijing West Railway Station. The 4,064km (2,525-mile) journey between Beijing and Lhasa takes 48 hours. Trains to Hong Kong (journey time - 27 hours) and Vietnam (journey time - 43 hours) leave from Beijing West Station. Although both main stations have special ticket desks for foreign travellers, ticket purchasing can still be confusing. However, tickets can also be bought through China International Travel Service (CITS) (tel: (10) 6515 8587). Most hotels can also make ticket bookings for a small fee, by using the Chinese-language booking line (tel: 6509 3783). The main railway stations for domestic journeys are Beijing Station and Beijing West. Journey times for domestic services to Beijing are: Harbin - 14 hours; Shanghai - 12 hours; Xian - 15 hours; Guangzhou - 24 hours.