Two new CRH sleeper trains stand at a parking lot near Shanghai South Railway Station on Tuesday, December 16, 2008. [Photo: Xinhuanet]

China's first batch of CRH (China Railway High-speed) sleeper trains made their debut in Shanghai on Tuesday before their maiden journeys scheduled on December 21.

Xinhua News Agency reported that the new high-speed trains will travel both between Beijing and Shanghai, and between Beijing and Hangzhou in eastern China's Zhejiang province, with an average speed of 250 kilometres per hour.

Journeys between Beijing and Shanghai will be reduced to less than ten hours, one and a half hours faster than taking the fastest train at present. Travel between Beijing and Hangzhou will also be cut by two hours to eleven hours.

The facilities of the new trains are also more customer-friendly with four berths in each sleeper, compared to six in a traditional couchette.