How long is the Chengdu to Kunming train?
The fastest train in a 12306 search made on 8 October 2026 for travel on 15 October 2026 was G2803. It leaves Chengdu East (成都东) at 07:54 and reaches Kunming South (昆明南) at 13:45: 5h51m, second class ¥527 (4% off). That day is one sample, not a timetable. It showed 24 trains: 14 G, 9 D and 1 Z (12306 results).
G train journeys were listed at 5h51m to 6h56m. D train journeys from Chengdu South (成都南) were listed at 7h08m to 8h06m. Second class was listed from ¥264 on D trains to ¥539 on G trains, every fare shown with a discount label (3% to 12% off). One train, Z371, was listed as an overnight sleeper. Which Kunming station you reach depends on the train, so read the station on your ticket.
For comparison, China State Railway Group said when the new Chengdu-Kunming railway fully opened on 26 December 2022 that Chengdu to Kunming would take about 7.5 hours at best (China State Railway Group). The Sichuan government site repeated that figure in its one-year report of 29 December 2023. It is an opening-day figure, not today's timetable. In the sample, D train journeys from Chengdu South were listed at 7h08m to 8h06m, and the faster G trains were all listed from Chengdu East.
Chengdu to Kunming train price and time, by Chengdu station
The table is for the sample day only. Times and prices are those 12306 showed on 8 October 2026 for travel on 15 October 2026.
| Leaving from | Trains | Types | Journey | Second-class seat | Quickest from this station |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chengdu East (成都东) | 15 | 14 G, plus D255 | G: 5h51m to 6h56m; D255: 8h11m | G: ¥482 to ¥539, every fare with a discount label (3% to 12% off); D255: ¥271 (7% off) | G2803, 07:54, 5h51m, ¥527 (4% off) |
| Chengdu South (成都南) | 7 | all D | 7h08m to 8h06m to Kunming Station | ¥264 (7% off) to Kunming Station; ¥273 (7% off) to Kunming South | D261, 16:38, 7h08m, ¥264 (7% off) |
| Chengdu West (成都西) | 2 | D279, Z371 | D279: 7h27m; Z371: 8h29m | D279: ¥272 (7% off); Z371 has no second-class seat | D279, 14:17, 7h27m, ¥272 (7% off) |
These are train counts, not result lines. No train was listed from two Chengdu stations, so 15 + 7 + 2 = 24. At the Kunming end it is different: 16 trains arrive at Kunming South and 12 at Kunming Station, and a train listed to both is counted at both, so those two numbers add up to 28, more than 24.
First class on G trains was ¥788 to ¥862, every fare with a discount label (3% to 10% off). On the Chengdu South D trains it was ¥424 (7% off) to Kunming Station and ¥439 (7% off) to Kunming South; D255 was ¥436 (7% off) and D279 ¥437 (7% off), both to Kunming Station. Some G trains also list VIP seats, ¥912 to ¥969 (3% to 9% off), or business class, ¥1479 to ¥1696 (10% to 17% off), every fare with a label. Some D trains from Chengdu South list business class at ¥909 (6% off), or ¥937 (6% off) to Kunming South; D279 from Chengdu West lists ¥937 (6% off) to Kunming Station.
Prices change
These fares are the ones shown on one day. Apart from the Z371 fares in the sleeper section, every fare on this page carries a discount label, so full fares are higher. The 12306 page shows the price for the date you search, and prices change with the train and the date, so use your own date before you plan a budget.
Which station do I leave from in Chengdu?
It depends on the train you pick. In the sample, every G train and D255 were listed from Chengdu East, the other D trains were listed from Chengdu South or Chengdu West, and the one Z train was listed from Chengdu West. On 12306 the three stations appear as Chengdudong, Chengdunan and Chengduxi. For how to reach each one, see our Chengdu railway stations guide.
Two of them are named on the official pages. The new Chengdu-Kunming railway starts at Chengdu South, and the first Chengdu-Guiyang train in December 2019 (C6041) left from Chengdu East.
Kunming Station or Kunming South: where does the train arrive?
The train decides. In the sample:
- 12 of the 14 G trains from Chengdu East were listed to Kunming South. G2837 (07:30) and G2845 (13:42) were listed to Kunming Station (昆明).
- All 7 D trains from Chengdu South were listed to Kunming Station. Four of them (D271, D235, D275, D245) were also listed to Kunming South. At Kunming Station they arrive 25 to 30 minutes earlier, and second class is ¥264 (7% off) instead of ¥273 (7% off).
- D255 from Chengdu East and the two trains from Chengdu West (D279, Z371) were listed to Kunming Station.
An official page from the State Railway Administration (Xinhua text dated 2017-05-08) says Kunming South handles high-speed and EMU trains and cross-province long-distance trains. It connects the Shanghai-Kunming high-speed railway and the Yunnan-Guangxi railway, and has 16 platforms and 30 tracks (State Railway Administration). That page doesn't say which trains use which Kunming station today. Our Kunming railway stations guide covers getting into the city from each.
Is there a sleeper or overnight train from Chengdu to Kunming?
In the sample, yes, one. Z371 leaves Chengdu West at 23:46 and reaches Kunming Station at 08:15 the next day, 8h29m. Its seat classes are soft sleeper ¥324, hard sleeper ¥207 and hard seat ¥119. It has no second-class seat, so it does not fit the ¥264 to ¥539 range above.
Z371 and its return, Z372, were the only trains with sleeper berths in either direction in the two searches. Z372 leaves Kunming at 15:20 and reaches Chengdu West at 23:22 the same day, 8h02m, so it is a daytime sleeper, not an overnight one. 12306 listed no overnight train from Kunming to Chengdu for that date. The China State Railway Group and Sichuan government reports on the new line don't mention a sleeper service, and a search for another date may differ.
Kunming to Chengdu by train: the same day in the other direction
The return search for 15 October 2026 (also made on 8 October 2026) showed 26 trains: 16 G, 9 D and 1 Z. It also showed one more listing, G2884 from Kunming South to Chengdu East, marked as closed for sale because of a timetable adjustment. That listing is not counted as a train.
| Leaving from | Trains | Types | Quickest from this station |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kunming South (昆明南) | 18 | 14 G to Chengdu East (5h49m to 6h39m), 4 D to Chengdu South | G2822, 07:29 to 13:18 at Chengdu East, 5h49m, ¥501 (9% off) |
| Kunming Station (昆明) | 12 | 9 D, 2 G (G2846 at 09:32, G2838 at 16:30, both to Chengdu East), Z372 | G2838, 16:30 to 22:36 at Chengdu East, 6h06m, ¥538.5 (9% off) |
Four D trains can be boarded at either Kunming station, listed under two numbers: D247 and D246, D277 and D276, D237 and D236, D273 and D272. Each pair reaches Chengdu South at the same time. They are counted at both stations, so 18 + 12 = 30 is more than 26. From Kunming South, G second class was ¥482 to ¥546, every fare with a discount label (3% to 12% off).
Which route does the Chengdu to Kunming train take, and is there a bullet train?
There are fast trains: 14 G trains in the sample, with journeys of 5h51m to 6h56m. But 12306 search results do not show which line a train takes, so a train number alone doesn't tell you whether it runs via Xichang and Panzhihua or via Guiyang.
The new Chengdu-Kunming railway. The 915 km line starts at Chengdu South, passes Chengdu, Meishan, Leshan, Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture and Panzhihua in Sichuan, then Chuxiong Yi Autonomous Prefecture and Kunming in Yunnan, and ends at Kunming Station. It is a National Class I double-track electrified line with a designed speed of 160 km/h. At opening, China State Railway Group gave best times of 3 hours to Xichang, 5 hours to Panzhihua and 7.5 hours to Kunming. The Sichuan page says Fuxing EMU trains run on it and names Xichang West and Ganluo South as stations.
The old Chengdu-Kunming railway. It opened in July 1970, and per the Sichuan page it still carries ordinary (conventional) passenger trains in the Liangshan area. Old and new lines both operate.
Via Guiyang. The Chengdu-Guiyang high-speed railway fully opened on 16 December 2019. It is 648 km with a designed speed of 250 km/h, and the fastest non-stop trains were to cover Chengdu to Guiyang within 3 hours (Sichuan government site). The first train, C6041 from Chengdu East to Guiyang North, took 3h53m with six stops. The line ends at Guiyang and does not itself reach Kunming. The same 2019 report said that after the 30 December 2019 timetable change, Chengdu would run EMU trains to Kunming and other cities. Neither the 2019 Sichuan report nor the Kunming South page gives a Guiyang to Kunming time or a through journey time, so any total for this route is something to read from 12306.
Is the train worth it, or should I fly?
The official line description says the new railway crosses the Min, Qingyi, Dadu and Jinsha rivers and passes through the Emei Mountain, Daliangshan and Xiaoliangshan, and Hengduan mountain areas, with seven tunnels over 10 km (including the 22 km Xiaoxiangling Tunnel) and eleven bridges over 2 km, but neither the China State Railway Group report nor the Sichuan government report rates the views from the window or gives flight times and fares to compare.
How to book a Chengdu to Kunming train ticket on 12306
- Open the train search on the 12306 English site (www.12306.cn/en), enter Chengdu as the departure city and Kunming as the destination, and pick your date.
- The results list trains from all Chengdu stations to both Kunming stations. Use the From Station filter (Chengdunan, Chengdudong, Chengduxi) and the To Station filter (Kunming, Kunmingnan) to narrow them.
- Read the stations on the line you choose. The same train number can appear twice, once for each station pair, and a train that can be boarded at two stations may carry a different number at each, as with D247 and D246.
- Compare the price by arrival station. As above, the same D train was listed at ¥264 (7% off) to Kunming Station and ¥273 (7% off) to Kunming South.
The search page doesn't say how far ahead tickets go on sale. For refunds and changes, including fees, see our 12306 refund and change fees guide. For what to do in each city, see the Chengdu travel guide and the Kunming travel guide.
