Fares for the nearly five-hour trip, priced up to 366 yuan ($53.1), were covered by Cainiao Network Technology, the country's top courier aggregator owned by e-commerce giant Alibaba.

The train aims to take away the hassle of buying train tickets during the peak Spring Festival season for deliverymen, and provide a rewarding travel experience for those who have been shuffling across the city collecting and dispatching parcels all year long, said Zhang Lu, who oversees the free ride program at Cainiao Guoguo, a parcel delivery and checking app.