Xiaoyu wants the first train to Shanghai. It is full; she takes the next one, and Chen Hao comes with her.
Xiaoyu
您好，明天早上七点的车，还有票吗？
Nín hǎo, míngtiān zǎoshang qī diǎn de chē, hái yǒu piào ma ?
Hello, are there any tickets left for the seven o'clock train tomorrow morning?
A ticket clerk
七点的没有了，七点四十的有。
Qī diǎn de méi yǒu le, qī diǎn sìshí de yǒu.
The seven o'clock is sold out, the seven forty has seats.
Xiaoyu
那一班几点到上海？
Nà yī bān jǐ diǎn dào shànghǎi ?
What time does that one get into Shanghai?
A ticket clerk
十点二十。二等座，一百五十三。
Shí diǎn èrshí. Èrděngzuò, yībǎi wǔshí sān.
Ten twenty. Second class, a hundred and fifty-three.
Xiaoyu
我要一张。可以用身份证上车吗？
Wǒ yào yī Zhāng. Kěyǐ yòng shēnfènzhèng shàngchē ma ?
I will take one. Can I board with my identity card?
A ticket clerk
可以，不用换票。
Kěyǐ, bù yòng huàn piào.
You can, there is no need to exchange it for a paper ticket.
Xiaoyu
要提前多长时间到车站？
Yào tíqián duō cháng shíjiān dào chēzhàn ?
How early should I get to the station?
A ticket clerk
半个小时，人多的时候要一个小时。
Bàn gè xiǎoshí, rén duō de shíhou yào yī gè xiǎoshí.
Half an hour, and an hour when it is busy.
Chen Hao
我也要一张，跟她一起。
Wǒ yě yào yī Zhāng, gēn tā yīqǐ.
I would like one as well, with her.
A ticket clerk
好，两张，一共三百零六。
Hǎo, liǎng Zhāng, yīgòng sānbǎi líng liù.
Right, two seats, three hundred and six altogether.
A 班 is a service, a departure at a given time: 那一班 that train, 下一班 the next one, 末班车 the last of the day. The word does for trains, buses and planes, and is counted in 班: 一天十班. It names the timetabled run, not the train itself.
On high-speed trains, 二等座 is second class, 一等座 first, and 商务座 business class. On the slow trains 硬座 and 硬卧 survive, the hard seat and the hard sleeper, with 软卧 the soft sleeper. You ask for your place at the window by naming the class, never a number.
提前半个小时到 means to arrive half an hour earlier than you need to. 提前 goes before the verb, followed by the time gained. Its opposite is 推迟, to put back. Do not confuse it with 以前, which places a moment in the past.
