The Hong Kong section of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link will start operation on September 23. This will connect the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region to the nationwide high-speed rail network.
According to the operating arrangements announced by the Hong Kong government, the Express Rail Link can reach 44 direct destinations upon its commissioning. Therefore, it will realize the "one-hour living circle" for Hong Kong with cities in the Greater Bay Area, and will reduce rail travel time to Beijing from 24 to less than nine hours.
New bullet trains commissioned to the HK section of the Express Rail Link are named VIBRANT EXPRESS by operation MTR./ CGTN photo
To give people a feel of how the new rail service will be, the Hong Kong terminus of the link – West Kowloon Station – opened its doors to the public over the weekend, for a two-day public preview.
20,000 Hong Kong residents who were lucky to have the visiting tickets can tour the ticket hall and green plaza on top of the new iconic building of Hong Kong.
Hong Kong West Kowloon Station Public Open Day/ CGTN photo
At the ticket hall, there are 28 ticketing counters and 39 ticket vending machines. Passengers can buy tickets using their travel documents or Chinese mainland ID cards after the Express Rail Link starts operation.
Ticket vending machine at West Kowloon Station allows passengers to buy or collect their high-speed train tickets to and from the Chinese mainland./ CGTN photo
Worth mentioning is a “co-location” border check arrangement, which will be introduced at the West Kowloon Station to enable passengers to complete their cross-border formalities in one-go within the station. The formalities are currently done separately in places of departure and arrival for people traveling between Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland, which takes more time and limits the number of direct routes.
West Kowloon Station is set to become Hong Kong’s new gateway to the Chinese mainland. / CGTN photo
The Express Rail expects 80,000 passengers a day at the starting period of its operation. With three weeks to go, a lot of preparation remains. Jarvis Lam, the station master on shift at West Kowloon Station said that at the final stage of preparation, staff at the station need to do reliability test of the entry gates, test ticketing machines and other facilities.
Staff conducting a facility reliability test at West Kowloon Station/ CGTN photo
Underground at the platform level, high speed trains have undergone trial operations for the last four months. The journey takes them through a tunnel that connects the Hong Kong section of the express rail to the Chinese mainland rail network.
Bullet trains dedicated to the short-haul trips on Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link are undergone intensive test running./ CGTN photo
Several newly-commissioned trains will conduct the short-haul trips from Hong Kong to Guangzhou South Station, with five intermediate stops. And long-haul trips will be made by existing Chinese mainland trains which will extend their destinations to Hong Kong.
Layout of the 8-car newly-commissioned bullet trains are similar to those of the serving trains on the Chinese mainland. /CGTN photo
The West Kowloon high-speed rail station sits right next to an integrated arts and culture hub. And it's connected to Hong Kong’s well-developed public transport system. It will become Hong Kong's new gateway to the Chinese mainland and is expected to be another boost to the city’s vitality and efficiency.