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.
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.
