Which Train Station to Use in Shanghai?

I received an email today regarding the two confusing train stations in Shanghai. He/she is definitely not the first one to ask the question.

by the way, i would like to ask you because i checked online and wanted to buy a train ticket from shanghai to beijing. my question is i want to ride the T104 train and where is that located? i mean there are three (3) railway stations in shanghai so im a little confused. and maybe you could also give me a chinese address of the station so we can show it to the taxi when we go there. thank you. I’ll wait for your reply pls.

Let me try to help.

How Many Train Stations in Shanghai?

There are two major stations in Shanghai, with some much smaller additional stations: Shanghai Railway Station, and Shanghai South Railway Station are the two biggest.

Shanghai Railway Station

Shanghai Railway Station 上海火车站, is the biggest railway station so far. It has other name called Xin Ke Zhan 新客站, or directly translation: New Passenger Station. It is “new” relative to the old North Station, which has almost been abondorned. However, it is now the “old” station, compared to the new Shanghai South Railway Station.

It is accessible via Metro Line #1, Metro Line #4, and Metro Line #3. Many buses also go there, but it is highly suggested for visitors to the city to use Metro or taxi to get there.

If you only see Shanghai, or 上海 on the train ticket without any other additional character on your train ticket, it is Shanghai Railway Station.

Shanghai South Railway Station

Shanghai South Railway Station, or 上海南站, is at the south side of the city. It is also accessible by Metro Line #1, but about 10 stops southward of Shanghai Railway Station.

On the train ticket, it is shown as Shanghai South 上海南.

In my train schedule page, for example, if you see Shanghai, it refers to Shanghai Railway Station. If you see Shanghai South, it refers to Shanghai South Railway Station.

Other Stations?

There are Shanghai West Train Station (or Zhenru Station as some people call it 真如站), and Meilong Station (I am not sure whether it still operates after the South Station started to use).

Recently, the Shanghai Pudong Railway Station just opened, but with only very limited cargo and passenger train. I hope it can grow big soon.

How to Get to the Stations?

I would highly recommend you to take metro if you don’t have large luggage. If you do, take taxi. Tell the driver exactly which stations to go. I agree it is confusing for visitors, but do let your driver clearly understand which station you going – south, or the main station. Better, show your ticket, and most taxi drivers are experienced with this – and many of them may have experience to take passenger to the wrong station before. :-)

Hope it helps.

P.S. Definitely avoid train stations during rush days (today, tomorrow,and the day after tomorrow) – three days before the Spring Festival. There are “people mountain and people sea” there.

P.S.2

j commented about the question itself. I didn’t tell him/her the answer yet. Let me complete the article here, although I have emailed back with exact answer.

Train T104 starts from Shanghai Railway Station. Here is the schedule.

Train # Seq Station Name Arrive Depart Distance

T104 1 Shanghai – 2002 0

T104 2 Wuxi 2109 2112 126

T104 3 Zhenjiang 2214 2217 238

T104 4 Xuzhou 0208 0216 649

T104 5 Beijing 0934 – 1463

18 thoughts on “Which Train Station to Use in Shanghai?

  1. But Jianshuo didn’t tell him/her which station to take T104 yet.

    Well, it should be Shanghai Railway Station.

  2. You can use a free-software called “极品时刻表” to find out the S+ of all trains in China.

  3. i want to go to nanjing from shanghai please give me the trains schedulles and from which station i am getting the train..

  4. Hello to you. I’ve read some very informative things from your blog. I’d like to ask some questions to and hope you could help us. We plan to travel by train from Shanghai to Beijing, we have already some choices as to what kind of train to choose. Do you know any site where we could book the train tickets? I’ve found 1 site but it’s quite expensive. Just in case you know any, hope you could share it to us. Thanks.

  5. Hello! I’m arriving at PVG on 25th June at 5:30 pm. I have to go to Yiwu. Do you happen to know what is the best way? Should I stay a night in Shanghai or go straight to Yiwu? Also if you recommend staying a night in Shanghai, what’s a good and economical place? I read that I can catch a D90 train from South Station to Yiwu. Don’t know how to get to the South Station. Too confuse.

    Thank you.

  6. Ni hao,

    Would appreciate if you advice me on the following.

    Is Pudong area in Shanghai nearer to the Shanghai South Railway Station or the Shanghai Railway Station, i.e xin ke zhan ?

    I wanted to book my train tickets online via this web link , however, I notice that the D train as mentioned in your blog is different (in terms of the no of digits followed by the letter D) from the train schedule as shown in this web link >>> http://www.chinahighlights.com/china-trains/search-result.asp Txt_FZ=Hangzhou&SearchType=A&Txt_DZ=Shanghai&Submit.x=55&Submit.y=7&page=1

    Does it refer to the same bullet train?

    Thank you for your advice.

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  8. Does anyone know the current price of the nice train from Shanghai to Beijing? Here is the information our hotel concierge gave us, sorry I don’t know what # train these prices are for…

    Each room seats 4. Since we have 5, we will need to split up.

    Option 1-

    2 in one car and 3 in another car. However, this means that we have to pay for 2 – 4 seat private rooms. Appx 3000RMB x 2= 6000/6.7 = 895.50/5= $179 each US

    Option 2 –

    4 in one car and 1 one of us to share with a random passenger. Appx 750rmb/6.7 = $112 US each

    I told him I would have to get back to him once our team settled on what to do. Let me know.

    Hotel shuttle can drop us off or we can take taxi. Might be easier to use shuttle for our bags etc. Estimate 250RMB = appx $40

    Train departs at 9:30pm, need to be there ½ hr before

    Takes 20 min to get there from hotel, plan on being there by 8:30pm

    Train arrive at 6:30am in Beijing, we need to plan on having shuttle pick us up as well. $50

  9. arriving shanghai on nov 03’09 want to travel on sleeper car by train to beijing what is the best station to depart from arriving by lpane into PVG WHAT IS THE BEST WAY TO GET TO STATION AND THE COST IN $ APPRECIATE ANY INFORMATION Thank you

  10. by 29 sept, i and my wife will be landing hangzhou airport at 13.30 airasia. we plan to stay at ibis hotel in hangzhou one nite. tomorrow morning 30 sept plan to take train frm hangzhou to shanghai. frm shanghai needs taxi 10 hours for shanghai daily trip before depart by train at 9pm same day frm shanghai to beijing.

    i need someone to fetch us frm

    1. hangzhou airport transfer to hotel ibis 29 sept 2010 and sightseeing at hangzhou on 29 sept 2010 (maybe taxi for 10 hours)

    2. buy the train ticket from hangzhou to shanghai for 2 person on 30 sept 2010

    3. daily trip at shanghai 10 hours on 30 sept 2010 frm 11am tp 9pm

    4. buy train ticket frm shanghai to beijing soft sleeper for 2 person on 30 sept 2010 at 9pm

    Please quote to me not include hotel.

  11. need to know, how to purchase my ticket from Hangzhou to Shanghai?, which station is it in Hangzhou? what the cost for one adult? tq

  12. Is there a reservation telephone in the south railway station or any other railway telephone i can reserve a ticket? Is there a way to avoid arriving to the station and are no tickets left?

    Is a website on the south railway station so i can reserve online?

  13. hello,

    my husband and i will be travelling to beijing on jan 27 from manila for the first time.please help us on the ff concerns:

    1. to see the great wall, forbidden city and tianamen square, is 2 days enough.? We are not on a guided tour.

    2. from beijing we are scheduled to go to shanghai and then go to Yiwu. is 2 days sufficient to have moved around Yiwu?

    3. from yiwu we will proceed to macau and the hkg ( how long is the travel by train from shanghai to macau? is there a train ?

    4.then macau to hkg- hkg to manila– We have already booked our going to beijing but will wait for your advise before we buy our return ticket. We wanted to maximize our trip.But is our plan possible?

    thanks a lot,

    wpd

  14. My husband and I want to travel from shangai to Suzhou singapore International school Industrial park Jiangsu. What train must we catch and from what station. thank you mynetta nugent

  15. Hello !

    i take plane tonight for shangai pudong, and i have to take a train as soon as possible for beijing. Do you know where i take the train, and the times of departures ?

    thanks !

  16. Hi there,
    We are visiting Shanghai and Beijing for the very first time. We are planning on booking the Holiday Inn Downtown Shanghai because it is supposed to be close to the Shanghai Railway Station. We are arriving in mid July and wanted to know what is the cheapest way to book a bullet train ticket from Shanghai Railway Station to Beijing Railway ticket. Where do we go once we arrive in China to book a ticket and will we be able to get a ticket 3 days in advance. Any help would be appreciated.

    Thanks!

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