BEIJING – In a major shift to meet evolving consumer demand from pet owners across the country, China’s national high-speed rail network has launched an expanded, upgraded pet transport service that now reaches 121 major stations and 250 daily trains, operator China Railway Express Co., Ltd. announced Wednesday.
The rollout follows a 12-month pilot program that launched exactly one year prior, on April 8, 2025. During the trial period, the service successfully moved more than 15,000 cats and dogs across participating lines, earning consistent positive feedback from travelers who had long struggled to bring their animal companions along on intercity trips. The pilot’s strong uptake confirmed the widespread unmet need for formal pet-friendly travel options on China’s busiest rail network.
Under the newly formalized service, pet owners now have two flexible transport options to fit different travel scenarios: accompanied travel, for passengers who are boarding the same train as their pet, and unaccompanied consignment, for owners who are not traveling alongside their animal.
To ensure safety and comfort for all passengers, the service has clear eligibility requirements: only healthy, domestic-bred cats and dogs are permitted, with a maximum weight of 15 kilograms, a maximum shoulder height of 40 centimeters, and a maximum body length of 52 centimeters.
For passengers choosing accompanied travel, booking is integrated directly into existing rail ticketing systems: travelers can search the national 12306 mobile app or website to identify trains marked with a dedicated pet-friendly icon, purchase their own passenger ticket, and reserve a transport slot for their pet on the same service in a single process.
For unaccompanied consignment, owners can book their pet’s slot through the official “China Railway Express” WeChat mini-program between two and five days ahead of the scheduled departure date.
The expansion adds 11 new stations to the pet-friendly network, including mid-sized cultural and industrial hubs such as Tangshan, Tai’an, and Yan’an, alongside 50 additional high-speed services including major intercity routes G41 and G688. In total, the upgraded service now covers 121 high-speed railway stations and 228 trains nationwide.
In a statement accompanying the launch, China Railway Express noted that the expansion is a direct response to rapidly growing consumer demand for pet-inclusive travel options, as pet ownership has become increasingly common across Chinese households in recent years. The upgrade marks one of the most significant changes to China’s rail passenger policies in recent years, aligning public transport services with shifting lifestyle trends across the country.