China Railway High-Speed (CRH) trains are expected to begin operating between Shanghai and Chongqing and Shanghai and Chengdu from January 11, and the two lines will offer China's most luxury sleeper facilities, leading to criticism from experts and netizens.

This photo shows passengers in a luxury soft-sleeper compartment of a CRH train travelling from Shanghai to Chengdu. Photo: news.xinmin.cn

But there will be a reduction in such luxurious facilities on CRH trains between Beijing and Shanghai, the Shanghai Evening Post reported Wednesday.

A Xinhua report Tuesday said that all seats in the luxury soft-sleeper carriages are equipped with individual video systems. Passengers can also adjust air-conditioning and lighting, and there is also a mini-meeting room in the carriage.

A ticket for a place on a luxury soft-sleeper between Shanghai and Chengdu costs 2,330 yuan (＄347.3), said the report, while an economy class air ticket costs about 1,500 yuan ($226.5).

"It's not necessary to provide this type of luxury seats," Zuo Yongfu, a Beijing resident, told the Global Times. "The price is too high for ordinary people."

Zuo also said that these luxury seats mean that there would be less room for cheaper seats due to the space constraints. And this could result in more difficulties in purchasing train tickets – especially during the Spring Festival when hundreds of millions of migrants travel to spend the festival together with their loved ones.

According to statistics on the ticket service website of the Ministry of Railways, three CRH trains between Beijing and Shanghai – D306, D308 and D314 – are equipped with the luxury soft-sleepers.

An employee of the Shanghai Railways Bureau was reported by the Shanghai Evening Post as saying that luxury seats on the D306 and D308 trains will no longer be available from January 11.

The data on the website showed that there are still 11 luxury soft-sleeper places on D308 CRH trains and 15 still available on D314 CRH trains. The total number of seats on one train is 16.

An upper berth soft-sleeper ticket costs 1,300 yuan ($196.3) and a lower berth ticket costs 1,470 yuan ($221.97). An ordinary seat on the same train costs 377 yuan ($56.93).

The price of an air ticket between Beijing and Shanghai is 1,150 yuan ($174) in economy class, and the flight only takes two and a half hours compared with the nearly 10 hour train journey.

According to the Shanghai Evening Post, there are only two berths in a luxurious train compartment, while there are usually four ordinary soft-sleeper places and six hard-sleeper berths in a similar compartment.

Hu Xingdou, an expert in China-related issues at the Beijing Institute of Technology, said that transportation improvements should take into account the real needs of the general public.

"Satisfying the needs of the low and middle-income class is the most urgent issue, rather than showing off unnecessary luxury decoration of a train carriage," Hu said.

He suggested that the authorities should add more trains and new lines – such as express and direct lines – as passengers care more about speed and reasonable comfort rather than a luxurious train experience.

The Ministry of Railways declined to comment on this topic.