Chongqing Railway Station Guide: How to Take the Train to Tibet from Chongqing

Chongqing North Railway Station, formerly known as the Longtousi Station, was opened in 2006 and finished the reconstruction of the new North Square in January, 2015. It mainly handles daily trains from Chongqing to Beijing, Shanghai, Lanzhou, Xi’an, Guangzhou and the high-speed bullet trains to Chengdu. And the Tibet train from Chongqing to Lhasa departs from the North Railway Station every other day.

Tibet Trains to Lhasa from Chongqing North Railway Station

The Chongqing-Lhasa train No. Z223 departs from Chongqing North Railway Station (South Square) every other day at 22:25 and arrives in Lhasa at 9:55 on the third day. And the return train from Lhasa to Chongqing departs at 18:40 and arrives in Chongqing North Station at 6:42 on the third day. There are nine stops for the whole trail line, covering a total distance of 3030 kilo meters.

Please note:
1. The train schedule from Chongqing to Lhasa above is just for reference. When you make early reservation, please contact us for more details.
2. The Chongqing to Lhasa train departs on even days in Jan, Apr, May, Aug, Nov and Dec, and on odd days in the rest months of 2020.

How to Board the Tibet Train at Chongqing North Railway Station

Which Square to Go

Located in the Yubei District, Chongqing North Railway Station consists of two separate departure halls, the North Square and South Square. The north square mainly serves the intercity and high-speed railways, such as the D and G trains from Chengdu to Chongqing, and the high-speed trains from Chongqing to Shanghai, Beijing, Xian, Hangzhou, Nanjing, and so on.

The trains to Lhasa depart from the South Square of Chongqing North Railway Station.

Since all the high-speed trains depart from the north square, all the other long-distance trains, including the Z223 train to Lhasa from Chongqing North Railway Station, depart from the south square. It should be noted that the north square and south square are under independent operation from each other, and tourists can not directly walk to one from the other, thus tourists should read over the information of your train ticket to avoid unnecessary detour.

How to Collect Ticket

The expanded north square of the railway station includes one floor above the ground and five floors underground. The ticket hall is located on the ground floor. While, the south square of Chongqing Railway Station consists of two floors above the ground. There are waiting rooms on both floors and the ticket office is on the second floor near the waiting room with 16 tickets windows.

Passengers can collect Tibet train tickets from the ticket office of the South Square.

For foreign tourists about to take Chongqing train to Tibet, one can buy the Tibet train ticket directly from the ticket office of the south square with your passport and Tibet Travel Permit. If you have reserved the ticket online, you can go to the ticket window to show your passport, the booking number and Tibet Travel Permit, then you can get your ticket.

Security Check at the Station

Tourists are required to go through security check at the exit before entering the railway station for boarding, to ensure safety. Controlled knife, explosives, flammable materials and other dangerous items are forbidden to be carried to the station. Some items are allowed in limited quantity, like 5 gas lighters and 20 boxes of safety matches.

Find Right Waiting Room

After you getting your train ticket and going through the required check, you should immediately find the right waiting room for your train to Lhasa. There is a huge LEC screen in the waiting hall, showing each train’s arrival station, arrival time and waiting room number. You need to find the right waiting room and stay there waiting to board the train.

Tourists need to find the right waiting room for Tibet trains to Lhasa.

Board the Train to Tibet

The last step for boarding the Tibet train is ticket check. Usually, the station staff will start checking the train ticket about 30 minutes before the train’s departure time. After ticket checking and entering the platform area, you will see the train waiting for you. Check the carriage number and seat number on your train ticket for boarding. Remember to get to the railway station at least one hour early before the departure time, so that you can spare enough time to go through all the boarding procedures, and ensure a perfect beginning of your Tibet tour.

How to Get to Chongqing North Railway Station

Get to Chongqing North Railway Station from Downtown Chongqing

There are more than ten scheduled bus lines to the North Railway Station, including Bus N0.119, No.138, No.421, No.558, No.820 etc. Passengers can take a bus to either the north square or south square of the railway station. And the Bus No. 663, running between the north square and south square, departs every 8-10 minutes and every 3-5 minutes during peak hours.

Tourists can take Metro Line 3 to Chongqing North Railway Station from downtown.

Recently, the Metro Line 3 is the only subway line (also called Chongqing Rail Transit Line 3) to Chongqing North Railway Station. With some part still under construction, the Metro Line 10 now can only take tourists to the north square of the station. If you will take Tibet train at the south square, you can get off at the north square and transfer to the south square through the shuttle bus No. 663.

Get to Chongqing North Railway Station from Chongqing Airport

It is convenient to get to the North Train Station from Chongqing Airport by Metro Line 3. The whole journey from the airport to the station only takes about 45 minutes by subway. The operation time of the subway is from 6:30 to 22:30. Tourists can take Metro Line 3 towards Yudong at Terminal 2 of Jiangbei Airport Station, and directly reach the railway station after 12 stops.

Shuttle buses are provided to transfer from Chongqing airport to Chongqing North Train Station.

Also, there is the airport express (Bus No. K02) provided for tourists to get to the railway station. It mainly takes 1 hour for the transfer. The distance between Chongqing Jiangbei Airport and North Railway Station is about 26 kilometers, which takes about 30 minutes without traffic jam.

Considering the walking time, the waiting time at the stations and the frequent traffic jams in downtown city, it is suggested to take the subway to the railway station in the daytime.

Get to Chongqing North Railway Station from Yangtze River Cruise Port

To get to the railway station from Yangtze River Cruise Port in Chongqing city, namely Chongqing Chaotianmen Port, one can take Metro Line 6 at Xiaoshenzi station and transfer to Metro Line 10 at Hongtudi station. It takes 6 stops in all and about 35 minutes to get to the north square of the train station. The ticket price is 3 CNY.

Popular High-speed Trains between Chengdu to Chongqing

Tibet trains depart from Chongqing and Chengdu on alternative days, for example, EVEN days in a month from Chongqing and ODD days from Chengdu. If there is no Chongqing to Lhasa train departing on your travel date, you can take a fast train to Chengdu and take the train from Chengdu to Lhasa instead.

There are dozens of daily Chongqing-Chengdu high-speed trains, including G-serious high-speed trains and D-series bullet trains running to Chengdu East Railway Station, respectively from Chongqing North Railway Station or Chongqing West Railway Station. The high-speed trains from Chongqing take about 1.5-2.5 hours to get to Chengdu. And the first train to Chengdu from Chongqing departs at 7:30 in the morning, and the last train departs at 21:59.