Passenger services
China Railway operates two main types of passenger rail services. Tickets for both types of trains are sold offline at ticket offices using the only national Ticketing and Reservation System (TRS), and online at China Railway's official online booking website, 12306.cn, and its associated mobile app, Railway 12306 (with both a Chinese interface and an English interface for use by foreigners). 12306.cn (and its app) is the only official online platform authorized to sell China Railway tickets.
China Railway High-speed (CRH)
China Railway High-speed (CRH) is a high-speed rail service operated by China Railway.
The introduction of CRH series was a major part of the sixth national railway speedup, implemented on April 18, 2007. By the end of 2020, China Railway High-speed provided service to all provinces in China, and operated just under 38,000 km (24,000 mi) passenger tracks in length, accounting for about two-thirds of the world's high-speed rail tracks in commercial service. China has revealed plans to extend the HSR to 70,000 km by year 2035. It is the world's most extensively used railway service, with 2.29 billion bullet train trips delivered in 2019 and 2.16 billion trips in 2020, bringing the total cumulative number of trips to 13 billion as of 2020.
In total, CRH operates over 3300 sets of rolling stock. Of which, over 1000 sets are Hexie trains including CRH1/2A/5 that are designed to have a maximum speed of 250 km/h (160 mph), and CRH2C/3 have a maximum speed of 350 km/h (220 mph). The indigenous designed CRH380A reached a maximum test speed of 416.6 km/h (258.9 mph) with commercial operation speed of 350 km/h. The 16 car variant, CRH380AL, additionally reached 486.1 km/h (302.0 mph). The fastest train set, CRH380BL, attained a maximum test speed of 487.3 km/h (302.8 mph). The remaining 2300 some sets are newer generation Fuxing trains. In 2017, the China Standardized EMU brand including CR400AF/BF and CR200J joined China Railway High-speed and are designated as Fuxing together with letters CR (China Railway). Since then, many variants have been introduced covering a wide range of speeds from 160 km/h to 350 km/h. The CR brand is gradually replacing the current CRH brand in service. As of 2026, the CR450AF/BF, designed to be the first conventional trains to operate at 400 km/h, are undergoing testing on various newly constructed lines.
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Depending on their speed, there are 3 categories of high speed trains: G, D and C. Most G trains and some C trains operate at 350 km/h, the fasted speed. D trains have a top speed of 250 km/h while most C trains have a top speed of 200 km/h.
China Railway Classic Rail
The China Railway Classic Rail network (Chinese: 普速铁路; pinyin: Pǔ sù tiělù), also known as conventional rail, forms the backbone of China Railway's railway system alongside the high-speed rail (HSR) network. These traditional railway lines operate at speeds below 160 km/h (99 mph) and serve a dual role in transporting both passengers and freight. Unlike the high-speed CRH (China Railway High-speed) services, which primarily use dedicated electrified tracks, Classic Rail consists of older lines that may be single or double-tracked, with varying degrees of electrification.
Historically, all Classic Rail trains were olive-green, leading to the nickname "green train" (Chinese: 绿皮火车; pinyin: Lǜ pí huǒche) to be used by laypeople. Since 2014, most Classic Rail trains that had other colours (white, red, blue) have been repainted olive-green. Classic Rail trains are also sometimes referred to as "slow trains" in English.
Classic Rail trains have significantly lower ticket prices compared to CRH trains and are a popular choice with travellers on a budget.
International operations
International trains
China Railway International Group Co., Ltd (CRIG) operates passenger trains from China to Mongolia, Russia, Kazakhstan, North Korea, Vietnam and Laos.
Services to Europe (New Silk Route)
As of 2017 China Railway ran goods services to 15 European cities, including routes to Madrid and Hamburg and the experimental East Wind service to London to test demand. The Chinese government refers to the two-week 12,000 km (7,500 mi) route, starting at Yiwu and with trains to London traversing Kazakhstan, Russia, Belarus, Poland, Germany, Belgium and France, as the Belt and Road Initiative. Containers must be transferred several times, as different, incompatible, rail gauges are used in different regions, and the same rolling stock cannot be used throughout.
Africa
China has been investing in and helping to rebuild railways in Africa. Below is an incomplete list of rail projects.
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