Rail passengers hoping to travel from Beijing to Shanghai in imperial levels of luxury when the new high-speed link opens this summer are likely to have their hopes dashed.
Mainland media reported yesterday that the service's proposed high-end berths and cabins had been abandoned in favour of places for ordinary travellers.
The Beijing Daily said 'airline-style' first-class carriages had initially been installed, with VIP cabins and fully reclining executive seats, to help the trains compete with domestic airlines for the lucrative business traveller market.
However, the paper quoted an unnamed railway official as saying these carriages were now being stripped and replaced with ordinary first- and second-class seats.
The move to tear out opulent fittings and refit them with more frugal furnishings follows the Ministry of Railways' announcements that the maximum operating speeds of high-speed trains would be lowered, starting from July, in the interests of safety and affordability.
New Railways Minister Sheng Guangzu said in a People's Daily interview published last week that speeds on the flagship Beijing-Shanghai link - due to start operating in late June - would be limited to 300km/h, down from the previously touted 380 km/h, with a slower service also running at up to 250 km/h.