Long-haul high-speed rail services from Hong Kong to Beijing and other cities in mainland China to return on April 1
- Services to three destinations in Guangdong will also resume from next Saturday, authorities say
- Long-haul services to Beijing, Shanghai, Chongqing and Kunming are set to return
High-speed rail services from Hong Kong to Beijing and other long-haul destinations in mainland China will fully return on April 1, authorities have announced, while trains to three destinations in Guangdong province will resume on March 11.
Authorities on Friday also said passengers heading to Guangzhou East on the high-speed rail link would save 10 minutes of travel time as two intermediate stops on the route would be removed on March 11.
The announcement came a month and a half after the return of limited short-haul services to Guangzhou and Shenzhen on January 15, following a nearly three-year suspension due to the coronavirus pandemic.
“Long-haul trains operated by the mainland require extra manpower … As more services resume, I believe tourists will find a more comprehensive network much more convenient, and this will increase the number of visitors,” Secretary for Transport and Logistics Lam Sai-hung said.
Before its suspension in January 2020, the high-speed rail link’s Hong Kong section, operated by the MTR Corporation, connected the city with 61 destinations on the mainland.
From Saturday next week, services to Chaoshan and Shantou in eastern Guangdong, as well as Zhaoqing East that serves Zhaoqing which is located west of Foshan, will be reintroduced at Hong Kong’s West Kowloon station.
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With the expanded service, passengers can also reach 11 intermediate stations directly from Hong Kong, including Pingshan station in Shenzhen, Foshan West, Huizhou South, Shanwei and Lufeng. The number of trains to all destinations will also be increased from 77 to 102.
The duration of the journey to Guangzhou East station, a destination popular with business travellers due to its central location, will be reduced by 10 minutes from March 11 after the removal of Futian and Dongguan stations from the route.
The first train from Guangzhou South will depart at 7.05am and arrive at West Kowloon station at 8.14am.
In the next phase of the resumption, long-haul services will fully return to Beijing, Shanghai, Chongqing and Kunming starting April 1.
The MTR Corp said travellers could buy tickets for long-haul trains running between West Kowloon Station and destinations in Guangdong through China Railway’s 12306 platform and other ticketing channels from next Tuesday.
The operator added that according to mainland requirements, all passengers must wear a mask while aboard the train and complete an electronic health declaration form before departure.
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Timothy Chui Ting-pong, executive director of the Hong Kong Tourism Association, welcomed the resumption of long-haul services, and predicted the number of mainland visitors to the city would return to “a certain high level” during the Labour Day holiday on May 1.
“Before the Covid-19 pandemic, we used to have quite a lot of flights from Wuhan, Nanjing, Shanghai, Hangzhou and Jiangsu. But now, the airlines are taking time to resume services,” he said. “We really hope there will be more mainland tourists coming to Hong Kong, and we need to provide a way for them to come.”
Lawmaker Lam So-wai suggested the MTR Corp arrange more staff at high-speed rail link stations to assist passengers and provide additional shuttle services to take visitors to different parts of the city.
