Tickets for the new Beijing-Guangzhou high-speed railway went on sale for the first time on Thursday.

Tickets were available online, by telephone, in railway stations and through travel agencies.

According to the Ministry of Railways, the high-speed railway will start operation on Wednesday.

Trains currently take more than 20 hours to cover the 2,298 km between Beijing and Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong province. The high-speed train will reduce the travel time to less than eight hours.

Traveling at speeds of up to 300 km per hour, the service will run through Shijiazhuang in Hebei province and Wuhan in Hubei province.

Second-class seats, the cheapest of the four sections, between Beijing and Guangzhou cost 865 yuan ($140).

Beijing West Railway Station opened two windows on Thursday to sell tickets for the new high-speed route.

In Zhengzhou, Henan province, about 2,000 tickets were sold on Thursday, according to the city's railway bureau.

Passengers were generally happy with the price of the Beijing-Guangzhou high-speed railway.

Jin Yonghong, 40, who often travels from Zhengzhou to cities in South China, said he felt the price was reasonable, but he added that he will only take the high-speed train in an emergency.

Xie Yufeng, 27, who works at a Beijing magazine and travels home to Changsha for holidays, said the high-speed train gives passengers more choices, especially businesspeople.

In Guangzhou, company clerk Gao Xin also said the ticket price was reasonable and added that he would take the high-speed train when he travels to Beijing.

"Air travel to Beijing will still be an option when time is tight, but the price of plane tickets should come down," he said.

For tour groups, a Beijing-Guangzhou high-speed train ticket costs more than an airline ticket , said Li Lang at the Guangdong branch of China International Travel Service.

The service may bring changes to business travelers, but for common tourists more significant changes may come in the future, Li said.

However, for long trips, especially those from Beijing to Guangzhou, many netizens said they still prefer to travel by air.

A survey by Sina Weibo, a micro-blogging website, showed 74.1 percent prefer to fly when they need to travel between Beijing and Guangzhou. Only 22 percent chose the high-speed railway. The survey polled more than 1,000 people.

Contact the writers at jinhaixing@chinadaily.com.cn and liwenfang@chinadaily.com.cn

Xiang Mingchao in Zhengzhou contributed to this story.