Is This China’s BEST High-Speed Train? The CRH380A Reviewed!

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Hello and welcome back to China, where today we’ll be checking out one of their very best imported trains!

We’ll be riding in First Class, from Nanjing to Hangzhou onboard the CRH380AL, the 16-car extended version of the 380km/h high-speed train, which is descended from the Japanese E2 Shinkansen, so let’s go and check it out together!

Date of Filming: 22/9/23
Camera: GoPro Hero 10 Black
Operator: Chinese Railways
Departure: Nanjing South, China
Arrival: Hangzhou East, China
Cost: First Class – 210 Chinese Yuan (£23.24, €26.93, $29.43)

Check out my review of the 400km/h Chinese Fuxing CR400 in Business Class here:

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00:00 – Intro
01:00 – Entry to Nanjing South Station
01:54 – Station Tour
03:06 – Trip.com for ALL Your Chinese Train Tickets!
04:05 – Boarding
04:42 – Route Map
05:04 – Our Train Arrives!
05:48 – Let’s Get Onboard
06:20 – Departure from Nanjing
07:28 – Seat Tour (First Class)
09:18 – Complimentary Goodies
09:45 – Dining Car, Business & Second Classes
11:12 – Toilet Tour
11:50 – High-speed Window Views
12:25 – Changxing & Huzhou Stations
14:02 – Trip Summary
14:45 – Arrival at Hangzhou East
15:15 – Alighting the Train
15:50 – Outro

Today, in the last video of 2023, we’ll  be taking a ride on one of the Chinese   high-speed trains that was directly  developed from foreign technology,   in this case the Japanese Shinkansen, so  let’s go and check it out it together!

Nihao & welcome back to China. We’re in Nanjing  for today’s trip, a megacity of 10 million people,   situated in the Yangtze River Delta region,  and capital of the Jiangsu province. Nanjing is a very important city, both  historically and in the modern day. It has  

Been the capital of China for various dynasties  since the 3rd century, and today is home to 68   universities and academies, 13 of which are  of the top-tier ‘double-first-class’ ranking. OK, let’s head to the station! Nanjing South took over as the main station,  and high-speed hub in the city in 2011,  

Opening just 2 days before the inauguration  of the Beijing-Shanghai high-speed line. It’s absolutely colossal,  with a floor space of 458,000   square meters (4.9m square feet), it’s six  times larger than the station it replaced. Let’s head inside. Entry is organised by these   metal barriers which feed you in  to the virtual ‘ticket’ checkpoint.

This is carried out by simply scanning  your passport on the gate line,   or showing it to a member of staff. You are then in the security area  where a bag x-ray and body metal   detector check is carried out.  These are quite stringent and no  

Large aerosols or sharp objects  of any description are allowed. Then, head up the escalators  to the main concourse. Lifts   are also provided on the left  hand side for step-free access. And wow, how impressive is this? There’s no ticket office here, as you need to  have purchased it before you enter the station,  

And 99% of people do it online anyway in advance. Although the station is located around  10km (6mi) from the city centre,   it’s well connected to it with 4 metro lines,  which also link it to the international airport. Large departure boards can be found  up above. While these don’t show the  

Destinations in English, if you find  your train number and departure time,   you can easily work it out  which gate you need to be at. The variety of shops and food outlets  here is also very impressive, with   everything from noodle bars to McDonalds  located on the upper mezzanine levels. I  

Grabbed some food as I had around a 30  minutes wait before my boarding time. If you look at this departure board, the red  denotes boarding closed for that service,   green is currently boarding, and  yellow is the next train to board. Before boarding opens for our train,  

Let me take a few moments to tell  you about today’s video sponsor. The trip.com app and website are by far the  EASIEST way to purchase Chinese Rail Tickets for   foreigners as you can do it with just a few clicks  and without a Chinese phone number or ID card.

Just select your date of travel, origin and  destination stations, choose the type of trains   you’d like to search for, and every available  option, with prices with instantly appear. Click on your desired train,   and the available class options will  be shown, with their relative prices.

Once you confirm your train, class, and contact  details, then you can choose your preferred seat. Lastly make payment by international  credit or debit card, PayPal or GooglePay. You confirmation will appear instantly  on-screen, and also by email. You don’t need any physical or  eTicket, just turn up to the  

Station and scan your passport.  It really is as easy at that! Trip.com also sell European train tickets  including for the UK, Spain, France,   Germany and more. They are all instantly delivered  to your email, and no printing is required. Once again, a HUGE thanks to trip.com for making  

This video possible. Check them out  at the link in the description below. OK, let’s board! It’s just a case of scanning your passport  on the gate line and following the crowd. Escalators and stairs lead down the the platforms,  and there are also lifts for step-free access.

If anything, the station is  even more impressive down here. The 28 platforms serve over 325 high-speed  trains and around 500,000 passengers per day,   which is more than double the throughput  of the busiest station in London. If you like high-speed trains, then  this is a great place to come to.

Let’s now check out our route onboard  train number G2815 this afternoon,   from Nanjing South to Hangzhou East. Our train rolls in about 5 minutes  before scheduled departure. It’s a 16-car China Railways CRH380AL EMU,  based on the E2 series Japanese Shinkansen.   There is some debate as to whether this  technology was acquired legitimately,  

But the Chinese insist it was under  a technology transfer agreement. These have a design speed of 380km/h (236mph),  and a regular in-service speed of 350km/h. However during testing, a train managed to  achieve a mind-blowing 486km/h (302mph). I’m sure you’ll agree, they certainly  look the part! Sleek and stylish!

Boarding is level with the platform,  with just a very small gap to cross. They have three classes onboard, Second,  Business, and First, where we’ll be travelling   today. Unlike on a plane, Business Class  is the highest class of service on a train. First Class is in a 2+2 layout,  

With these wide recliner armchairs which  all rotate to face the direction of travel. This is me for today, Coach 4, Seat 5A. We depart precisely on-time at 2.14pm.  This trip is 254km (158mi) in length,   and is scheduled to take 1 hours and 43  minutes of travel time, arriving at 3.57pm.

The price of a First Class adult ticket is 210  Chinese Yuan (£23.24, €26.93, $29.43), which I   think is pretty good value, considering the  comfort, speed and complimentary offerings. We’ll check out the prices for the other classes  when we take a look at those seats a bit later on.

The top speed on today’s trip will be *just*  300km/h (186mph) due to line speed limitations. If you want AD-FREE early access to every  video, great perks and to help me to do   BIGGER & BETTER reviews, then become a  Channel Member from just £1.99 per month.

Just click the link above now, or the  JOIN button in every video. Thank you! I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, the  railway infrastructure in China blew my mind. There is literally miles and miles  of intertwining high-speed lines  

Wherever you look which now form the world’s  biggest network by far, totalling 42,000km,   which is over two-thirds of the  whole world’s high-speed lines. OK, let’s check out the seat. It’s super comfy, well padded and has  an excellent soft and winged headrest. You can recline it a decent amount  by pushing this small button.

Legroom is also really good, with an adjustable,  two-sided footrest for additional support. There is a seat-back pocket, which contains  a sick bag, and a China Railways magazine. Down below is a power sockets which has one  Chinese and one European/American outlet.

Here is the lever which rotates the seat pair,  allowing you to make a bay of four, if desired. A foldable tray table can be deployed from inside   the armrest. This is large  but not particularly sturdy. The seat also has a radio/entertainment system,  

However I didn’t have any wired  headphone to be able to test it out. Coat hooks can be found on the back of  the seat, and also on the wall above. Finally, a sunblind is available on the window,   and adjustable air vents  are located just above it.

Overall, it’s very well designed and comfortable,  perfect for shorter high-speed trips like this,   and even over much longer distances.  I’d be very happy here for 4+ hours! We are soon steaming along at today’s  top speed of 300km/h (186mph). The friendly on-board attendant soon comes around  with the complimentary food and drinks offering.

I went for a Coke and this snack pack. These four   different appetisers were plenty to keep  me going on this relatively short trip. Right, now let’s go and check  out the rest of the train. This is the Dining Car, which has  nice a sit-down table area to eat at.

They serve light meals, including noodle dishes  and snacks, crips, and hot and cold drinks. Here is Business Class, the premier accommodation  on the train, which is in a 2+1 layout. These beautiful leather recliners lie completely  flat into a bed, with unrivalled space.

The price is 450 Chinese Yuan (£49.80,  €57.70, $63.06) per seat for this trip. Here is Second Class, which  includes the wheelchair spaces. This budget option is in a 3+2 layout. I find the  seats in here pretty narrow and not very soft,  

But they are OK for shorter trips.  There is still plenty of legroom though. The price in here, is 130 Chinese  Yuan (£14.39, €16.67, $18.22). There is a seating option, and indeed  a price point for everyone. So I guess   it’s down to you as to how much you want to spend!

Every coach has a separate wash  basin area, along with two toilets. The first is a squatty potty  one. They were all clean,   fully working and stocked  up during my all my trips. The second one is a western style  commode. Again, a choice for all!

If you want to see what Business  Class is like on one of the BRAND   NEW 400km/h Fuxing CR400 high-speed  sets, then click my link above now. I don’t think that I could ever get bored of the  #TrainWindowViews at this speed. It might be dark  

And dismal today, but seeing the landscapes and  other trains fly by like this is just mesmerising. All onboard announcements are made in both  Mandarin and English, which is great to hear! We have a 5 minute planned stop here while a  Fast service passes us on the centre tracks.

Back on the move, and we are now approaching  Huzhou, our final intermediate stop of the day. This is probably a place you’ve never heard  of, despite it having a population of 1.5   million people, which makes it a similar  size to Dallas in Texas or Leeds in the UK.

One of the most notable buildings near the city,   is the Shertaon Hotel, situated on the  nearby Lake Tai, China’s third largest   freshwater lake. It is affectionately  known locally as the ‘horseshoe hotel’. The station opened in 2020,   and is another dedicated to the rapidly  expanding high-speed network in the area.

Free WiFi is available on the train, however  because I didn’t have a Chinese SIM card,   I couldn’t register, and therefore  couldn’t get it working unfortunately. We’re now on the home straight,   and now seems like as good a time as any  to give you my summary of today’s trip.

I was super impressed with the  ride quality of these trains,   along with the comfort provided  in this First Class seat. You have all the amenities you could possibly  need for much longer trips than I’ve taken today,   and the complimentary goodies were a lovely touch.

The staff members that I interacted  with were also kind and friendly,   and seemed to really enjoy their jobs! The speed is also captivating, even  just at 300km/h, I can’t imagine what   it would be like on the test run  when this train got up to 486km/h! We are now pulling into Hangzhou East Station,  

With apartment blocks and offices  intimately lining the elevated tracks. Let me take this opportunity  to thank you all for watching   my channel over the last 12 months,  we made it to 100,000 subscribers! Let me also wish you and your family a  happy new year, and all the luck for 2024.

Needless to say, we arrive  exactly on-time at 3:57pm. Have you been on any Chinese high-speed  trains trips before? Which route did you do,   and how did you find it? Let  me know in the comments below! Once again, a BIG THANKS to Trip.com for  sponsoring this video. Check them out at  

The link in the description below for  all your Chinese Train Tickets needs. By the way, I’m always open to new  video ideas, so send me a DM on   Instagram or Twitter if there’s anything  you really want to see on the channel… Don’t forget to subscribe as I  publish a new review every Friday,  

Thanks for watching and I’ll see you next week!