Well as promised, I will give you a report and review (with attached photos!) of my high speed rail report from Shenzhen North to Changsha. (I've done it in a new thread here to avoid cluttering up my old thread).
1. Tickets
Bought my tickets last week at Lo Wu (to save myself the $100 CTS commission if I were to buy it at CTS HK). Not sure if it was worth it though, since it took me an hour waiting in line to buy the tickets. And at one point there was almost a fistfight breaking out because the ticket counter lady was new to her job and taking way too long to handle the customers.
The company was paying so I bought myself and for my client two premier coach tickets. Unlike the early days of Chinese high speed rail, I think it's best to buy your tickets at least one week in advance as the demand has gone way up since then. You may end up being unable to buy the tickets if you are planning to buy it on the same day of travel. Most importantly, make sure you bring your passport with you, as they have to check your travel id in order for you to buy tickets.
2.The Stations
The quickest way to Shenzhen North is to enter Shenzhen from Lok Ma Chau. Because the Shenzhen immigration counter-point to Lok Ma Chau is Futian. Once you cleared immigration at Futian, take the Longhua line to Shenzhen north. As you can tell from the attached photos, the Shenzhen North station is brand new and very modern and spacious. A far cry from the rather shabby and filthy stations you get for the conventional trains. Same goes for Changsha (and all the other high speed stations for that matter). A downside is that most of these stations are located some distance from town, so getting to downtown from the station can take quite some time.
3.The Ride
Now onto the ride. We boarded the CRH3 train (based on the Siemens Velaro train in Germany). It is an electric multiple unit (emu), employing the same basic principles as your regular MTR train, but of course with different components, (i.e. bogies, pantograph) and different voltage for the overhead line (25 kv).
The cabin was clean and tidy. The seats were wide and comfortable (2+2) with reclining ability and foot rest. Akin to a business class seat on an airline. The customer service is also somewhat improved from the "service with a snarl" typical of the normal hard sleeper trains. They offer complimentary snacks and water for the premier coach class.
As the high speed rail line is continuously welded, you don't hear that click-clack sound of normal trains. It is very quiet and what sound you get is almost jet plane like. I also appreciate the speed display on the top of the cabin. It tells you which is your next station and how fast you are going (our train max out at 307 km). Whizzing past the countryside, you get the sensation of flying just above the land. Changsha is probably the farthest you can go in a single day trip, being around 3 hours and 20 minutes long.