Suzhou Train Stations: Where and How to Take a Train?

Did you know that the Greater Suzhou area now has over 14 railway stations – a record for the entire Jiangsu province? Yes, really! But don't worry: for a classic stay, four of them are more than enough.

Suzhou Centre, Suzhou North, Suzhou New District and, since the end of 2024, the brand-new Suzhou South Railway Station share the majority of tourist traffic, with each serving its own lines.

To help you keep track of everything, Trip.com presents a comprehensive travel guide.

The 4 Key Train Stations in Suzhou

Unlike other Chinese cities with multiple railway stations, it is not necessarily the newest station in Suzhou that handles all the high-speed traffic: the main station remains the busiest when you count all train categories together.

Suzhou Railway Station (Main Station)

Off to the Gusu District, to 27 Suzhan Road! It’s over a century old, having opened in 1906, and has been remodelled several times since, including a major construction project on the southern forecourt that was completed in 2013.

Twelve platform tracks, five island platforms, two side platforms... and, above all, by far the busiest railway station in Suzhou, with nearly 100,000 travellers passing through every day. Now that’s something!

Suzhou Railway Station is the hub for all intercity connections, including the Shanghai-Nanjing line (opened in 2010, with Shanghai barely 20 minutes away), as well as numerous classic T, K, and Z trains to Beijing on the old line.

How do you get there?

💡 The Trip.com tip: Metro lines 2 and 4 serve the station directly – by far the easiest way to reach the old town without having to rely on a taxi.

Station services

• 🍜 Restaurants, shops and a business lounge on the 2nd level, above the waiting areas
• 🧳 Luggage storage that's available all day long
• 🎫 Counter on the ground floor, with a special counter for foreign passports
• 🏧 Cash machines on level -1, foreign cards are accepted
• 🚌 An easily accessible bus station, convenient for shuttle buses to water towns like Tongli or Wuzhen
• 📶 Free Wi-Fi throughout the building

The most important train connections from Suzhou (city centre)

Suzhou North Railway Station

Located about ten kilometres north of the city centre, in the Xiangcheng District, Suzhou North opened its doors on 30 June 2011 – the very same day the Beijing-Shanghai high-speed railway line began operations.

This is where the fastest G-trains depart heading north, primarily to Beijing, but also to Tianjin or Jinan, depending on the route with a transfer in Wuxi East. It is a station designed more for speed than for proximity.

The reason? It is the furthest out of the four stations mentioned in this article, and it is better to allow some buffer time for the journey. And in the opposite direction, towards Shanghai Hongqiao, most trains stop at Kunshan South, the station closest to the old water town of Zhouzhuang.

How do you get there?

👉 Metro line 4 connects the station directly to the city centre. By taxi, you should allow about 20 to 30 minutes, depending on traffic.

How do I buy my ticket?

For buying your train ticket (regardless of which station), there are three main options:

• On Trip.com (the most recommended option): booking in English, an electronic ticket linked directly to your passport – and all this without having to queue at the counter! Handy, right?
• Via the 12306 app: the official Chinese ticket portal, which is comprehensive and available in both Mandarin and English.
• At the counters: These are available at all four stations, with a special counter for foreign travellers. Self-service machines may only accept Chinese identity cards. For online bookings, you can travel using the original passport linked to your booking, without collecting a paper ticket.

The services available at Suzhou North Railway Station

• 📶 Free Wi-Fi and a dedicated area for families with babies
• 🍱 A dining area on the ground floor
• 🧳 Luggage storage is available
• 🅿️ A large outdoor car park, handy for rental cars

The most important train connections from Suzhou North

However, be careful: the results displayed for this route sometimes conflate neighbouring stations like Taicang or Changshu, which are part of the greater Suzhou area but not the city itself. Therefore, check the departure station printed on your ticket carefully.

Suzhou New District Railway Station

Located about 9.4 km from the main railway station, in the Huqiu District, Suzhou Xinqu (or "New District") feels like the little sister: two platforms, four tracks, and barely thirty trains per day on the Shanghai-Nanjing intercity line, compared to several hundred at the main station.

It primarily serves the residents and employees of the neighbouring high-tech district, the famous Suzhou New District, where many of the city's technology and industrial companies are concentrated.

However, if your hotel is located in the west of the city, far away from the main railway station and Suzhou North, this station can save you quite a detour by taxi.

How do you get there?

Metro lines 3 and 6, as well as tram line T2, serve the station directly, which also acts as the northern terminus for the metro lines.

Station services

• 🍙 There are no restaurants at the station: it’s purely a transit station where people don’t linger. So, grab a bite to eat beforehand or bring a snack with you!
• 🎫 Three counters and two machines, on the east side of the building
• 💺 A modest waiting area with only about fifty seats
• 🧳 No luggage storage available: drop your bags off at the main railway station or at Suzhou North instead.
• 🚌 Around a dozen city bus lines right in front of the station (311, 326, 329, 335…), plus the underground and tram lines

Suzhou South Railway Station

Opened on 26 December 2024 in the southern Wujiang District, Suzhou South Railway Station is the newest station in Suzhou. It was built for the brand-new Shanghai-Suzhou-Huzhou high-speed line, which connects Shanghai Hongqiao with Huzhou, passing through the south of the greater Suzhou area, specifically Lili and Shengze.

With its 40,000 m² hexagonal building and two platforms with six tracks, it is currently still rarely visited by foreign tourists, who often don't even know it exists.

It also serves Shengze, an ancient silk town in the Wujiang District, a stopover on the way to Huzhou and further on to Lake Tai. A future station for Suzhou Metro Line 10 is already planned underground – proof that the city administration is betting on the development of this sector!

👉 But this station has an unknown advantage: it is located just about 15 km (a 16-minute drive) from the Tongli wetland area, one of the quickest ways to access this region of water towns – much closer than from the main railway station.

From Shanghai to Suzhou: Which Train Station Is Best?

If there is one route you should know by heart in Suzhou, it’s this one: the city is one of the most popular day-trip destinations from Shanghai, so much so that some connections list more than 600 trains daily on paper.

This figure conflates several railway stations on both sides – Shanghai, Shanghai Hongqiao or Shanghai Songjiang for departure, Suzhou Centre or Suzhou North for arrival, or even neighbouring cities like Zhangjiagang. The fastest verified station-to-station connection is around 23 minutes, between Shanghai Hongqiao and Suzhou North.

Train Stations in Suzhou: Which One Fits Your Route?

Everything depends on your next destination and, more generally, on your travel route:

• If you are travelling to Nanjing, Hangzhou or Shanghai: Suzhou Railway Station (main station) remains the most convenient, with by far the largest selection of timetables.
• Heading to Beijing, Tianjin, or Jinan? Then Suzhou North Railway Station is your destination, as it is the only one that serves the Beijing-Shanghai high-speed line.
• If you are staying near the high-tech district in the west: Suzhou New District railway station can save you a detour, provided your route takes you past there.
• If you're visiting the water towns in the south, like Tongli for example: keep an eye on Suzhou South, still a bit of a hidden gem, but conveniently located.

Always allow for a buffer in any case, in case your hotel is near a different station to the one your train departs from: journeys between the four stations can easily take 25 to 40 minutes by taxi, depending on traffic.

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