There are 3 train stations from Haikou to Sanya namely Haikou Railway Station, Haikou East Railway Station and Meilan Railway Station.
Hakou Railway Station is the old station and there are only 3 high speed train that leaves this station for Sanya.
The new and main train station is Haikou East Railway Station. There are about 30 trains leaving this station throughout the day, some half-hourly and some 40 min to 60 min apart. Refer to the link below for the train schedule.
If you are going to Sanya straight from Meilan International Airport, you need not go to Haikou or Haikou East Railway Station to board the train as there is a railway station within the airport ground. You can also purchase your tickets here, thus saving time and money.
There are shuttle buses that will take you to Meilan Railway Station which is also known as the airport railway station. These buses will be waiting outside the arrival hall and will depart for the railway station every 10 to 15 minutes. It is absolutely FREE to use this service.
It takes only 2 minutes to reach Meilan Railway Station from the arrival hall.
The shuttle bus will drop passengers right in front of the entrance to the station. There are no elevators or escalators to the ticketing floor which is 1 level below so be prepared to carry your heavy luggage down a flight of stairs.
The place which sells tickets has no English signage or English translation and the ticketing officers do not speak English. Non-Mandarin speaking visitors may face some communication problem there.
There are 2 types of tickets available. A first class ticket costs 94.5CNY and a 2nd class ticket costs 79.5CNY. The difference is 1st class has better padded seats and there are 4 seats per row. The 2nd class seats are also comfortable but there are 5 seats per row. To buy the tickets you will need to produce your international passport. The tickets will bear the train no, date, time, platform, cabin no, seat no, and price.
You will need to go through a scanner before being allowed to take the escalator another level down to the waiting hall.
The waiting hall is a comfortable place with plenty of seats, toilets, hot drinking water and there is a welcome change here as signage and English translation are displayed. Announcement are made in Mandarin as well as in English, to my surprise.
The boarding floor is yet another level down. There is an escalator and an elevator specially for the handicapped to get to this floor.
Trains are punctual to the dot. The trains that arrive are from Haikou East Railway Station so Meilan Railway Station is the first stop for them to pick up passengers. Not all trains from Haikou East Railway Station will stop at Meilan Railway Station. Probably 20 out of 30 trains will stop at Meilan Railway Station which is frequent enough so waiting time for the next train is not that long.
The train is air-conditioned with clean toilets. The crew are smartly dressed and will be selling a range of foodstuff from all types of beverages, packed meals to tit-bits. This picture shows the first class cabin. Drinking water is available for free on board.
The train will make 5 or 6 pit stops at major cities to pick or drop passengers. Each stop is only about 2 minutes. The journey will take between 1hr 30 min to 1hr 50 minutes.
The final stop for trains from Haikou is at Sanya Railway Station. We purchased our return ticket immediately on arrival.
Return Journey (Fom Sanya Railway Station To Meilan Railway Station)
If you are returning to Meilan Airport at the end of your travel, make sure to buy the correct ticket as not all trains from Sanya Railway Station will drop passengers at the airport station. A mistake may take you to Haikou East Railway Station and you will have to waste some time and money getting to the airport. Refer to the train schedule meticulously.
The ticketing hall in Sanya Railway Station has the same setting as in Meilan Train Station. All schedules, signage, etc are in Mandarin with no English translation and the staff do not speak English. Once you enter the waiting hall, you'll start seeing English signage and English translation.
We opted for the 2nd class ticket for our return journey. The seats are quite comfortable but narrower than the first class seats.
Click to view: Train Schedule From The Various Train Stations To Sanya Train Station and From Sanya Train Station To The Various Train Stations
Click To view : Train Schedule From Meilan Train Station To Sanya Train Station
Distance from Meilan Airport to Haikou Railway Station is 50 km.
Distance from Meilan Airport to Haikou East Railway Station is 18 km.
Distance from Meilan Airport to Haikou Railway Station is 50 km.
Distance from Meilan Airport to Haikou East Railway Station is 18 km.
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