About Gaotie Kaki 高铁搭子

Who runs it

Gaotie Kaki is a free, nonprofit site run by Cao Ziyi.

12306 and Trip.com show train numbers, times and prices. Neither says which train model you will ride. Two G trains on the same route can be a new CR400 Fuxing and an older Hexie set with known problems. This site tells you which model a train usually gets and what that means on board.

Independent and unofficial

This site is independent and not affiliated with China Railway or 12306.

It never books, holds, resells or buys tickets. It never asks for a passport, an account or a payment detail. To buy a ticket, use 12306 or a booking site. Train pages link to the 12306 search for that train.

How we know which model a train gets

Rail fans log which train set ran which train number. Each sighting is one set seen on one train on one day. Most sets are logged once or twice a day, not on every trip.

Each set's serial number is matched to the build batches in the china-emu.cn catalogue to find its exact model. When the catalogue's batch list is incomplete, the set keeps the base model in its code, for example CRH1A.

The usual model is the one seen most often on that train. We say how sure we are in words and always show the counts behind them.

Strong means 10 or more sightings with at least 8 in 10 of them the same model. Likely means 3 or more sightings with at least 6 in 10 the same model. Mixed means 3 or more sightings with no model reaching 6 in 10, so we show the top 2. Hint means only 1 or 2 sightings. No data means nobody has logged the train yet.

When 2 sets ran a train together on at least half of the days it was seen, we say it usually runs as 2 sets coupled together. That changes the car numbers and how far you walk along the platform.

Flags come from the problems section of each model's page on china-emu.cn. A train shows a flag when its usual model carries it. When a base model such as CRH1A covers several catalogue pages, the flag shows only if every one of those pages carries it.

Sightings are a sample. A train with few sightings can show the wrong model, and sets get swapped from day to day. Rosters change at each timetable change. When a train's sightings start more than 60 days before the data date, its page says some of them may predate the current timetable.

Data date

The data was pulled on 10 Oct 2026. It holds 67,857 sightings from 16 Sep 2019 to 11 Oct 2026.

The train list is 12306's list of G, D, C and S trains for 14 Oct 2026 and 17 Oct 2026, 13,519 trains in all. 6,180 of them have at least one sighting and 7,339 have none yet. A train with no sightings still gets a page with its route, its stops and a 12306 link.

Trains that run only on holidays are missing from that list unless rail fans have logged them. Their pages show the route as unknown.

Seats left, prices and stop times can come live from 12306. Your browser asks this site's own server, and that server asks the public search the 12306 website itself uses. Your browser never contacts 12306.

Every live answer says when it was checked, for example live from 12306 at 08:15. When 12306 does not answer in time, or live data is switched off, the page shows our own copy of the data instead and says the date it was pulled.

The server keeps no record of what you search, your IP address or anything else about you, and live data sets no cookies. It only reads public timetable, seat and price data, and it never logs in, books, holds or buys anything.

A search is kept for about 10 minutes, and a stop list for an hour. Both are shared, so many people asking about the same route cost 12306 one request, and a cap limits how often the site asks 12306 in all. Which set a train usually gets, how sure we are and the flags still come from our own copy, built from rail.re sightings.

Sources and licences

Train models, specifications, formations, seat counts and the problems and comfort notes come from china-emu.cn (慧伊创新科技). Its text is licensed CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 CN. Our English translations of that text are adaptations under the same licence. Each model page credits and links its source page. No photos or drawings were copied.

Sightings come from the rail.re public API. Routings are credited to Weibo @CRH380AL动车组 and unit sightings to GitHub @Arnie97.

The train list, stop counts and station names come from 12306.