China's expanding high-speed train network and soaring property prices in big cities have seen the birth of the "high-speed train tribe," a new set of commuters who travel to and from work by bullet train.
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Starting Monday, Beijing will be connected to Yanjiao Town in neighboring Hebei Province via three bullet trains during morning and evening rush hours. The new trains are a high-speed alternative for white-collar workers in the town who are used to suffering on slow, cramped buses on their way to the capital city.
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The trains, coded D9022, D9023 and D9024, will help Yanjiao commuters reach Beijing in only half an hour, much shorter than buses, which typically take an hour.
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Yanjiao, only 30 kilometers away, has been dubbed the "town of sleep" because its residents often work in Beijing and return to sleep there at night. The town has 600,000 residents, a majority of whom work in Beijing.
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The new rail routes came as welcome news to commuters in Yanjiao, many of whom said they will finally be spared the trouble of being crammed on overloaded buses. By 9 p.m. Sunday, all Monday morning train tickets to Beijing had been sold out, according to official statistics.Â
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 China's expanding high-speed train network and soaring property prices in big cities have seen the birth of the "high-speed train tribe," a new set of commuters who travel to and from work by bullet train.
