High-speed overnight trains will start running between Hong Kong and Beijing and Shanghai from June 15, replacing the normal through-train services that were suspended following the COVID-19 pandemic.
Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu said on Tuesday the new service, along with other service enhancement announced by China Railway, will enable passengers to travel on bullet trains on routes linking the special administrative region with more Chinese mainland destinations, including the scenic city of Zhangjiajie in Hunan province, fostering closer ties between the SAR and the mainland.
The overnight high-speed trains - each with more than 600 seats and sleeper beds - will operate to and from Hong Kong, Beijing and Shanghai from Friday to Monday.
Train D909 will depart from Beijingxi Railway Station at 8:13pm and arrive at Hong Kong’s West Kowloon Station at 8:47am the next day, while the D910 train will leave West Kowloon Station at 6:24pm and arrive in the capital at 6:53am the following day
Train D909 will depart from Beijingxi Railway Station at 8:13 pm and arrive at Hong Kong’s West Kowloon Station at 8:47 am the next day, while the D910 train will leave West Kowloon Station at 6:24 pm and arrive in the capital at 6:53 am the following day.
On the Hong Kong-Shanghai route, travelers taking the D907 train will leave Shanghai’s Hongqiao Railway Station at 8:15 pm and arrive at West Kowloon Station at 7:29 am, while the D908 train will leave Hong Kong at 7:49 pm and arrive in Shanghai at 6:45 am the next day.
The high-speed train journey will shorten the travel time between Hong Kong and Beijing to 12 hours and 34 minutes, and to 11 hours and 14 minutes between the SAR and Shanghai, compared with the through trains, which took more than 24 hours and over 19 hours, respectively.
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Tickets will go on sale at 12pm from Wednesday on the official ticketing platform 12306, ticketing offices at railway stations, as well as automatic ticketing machines. Ticket prices for a second-class seat or a sleeper berth will range from HK$937 ($119) to HK$1,448. Passengers traveling from Hong Kong to Shanghai will have to pay fares of between HK$682 and HK$2,182, depending on the class of seat or type of sleeping berth. At present, a ticket for a Shenzhen-Beijing high-speed sleeper costs 1,000 yuan ($138).
The railway authorities called the sleeper train services “an upgrade” of the through-train services as the travel time will be reduced and with more trains running weekly. Passengers can also board or disembark at more stations, such as Shijiazhuang in Hebei province, on the Beijing-Hong Kong route, and Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, on the Shanghai-Hong Kong route.
Like other cross-boundary bullet trains, passengers will only need to go through immigration and customs checks once when they arrive at or leave Hong Kong, according to China Railway.
At a regular news conference ahead of an Executive Council meeting on Tuesday, Lee said the upgraded high-speed train services demonstrate the central government’s care for Hong Kong. The sleeper trains, which will depart Hong Kong at night and arrive at their destinations the next morning, will offer travelers a comfortable and faster option
When a new nationwide railway timetable is issued on June 15, six more pairs of bullet trains will run between Hong Kong and the mainland, including three pairs to and from Guangzhoudong Station, two connecting the city with Shenzhenbei Station, and a pair of trains running between Hong Kong and Zhangjiajie – a city known for its astonishing mountain views. This will bring the total number of high-speed trains operating between the SAR and mainland to 127 pairs daily, serving destinations across 16 provinces.
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At a regular news conference ahead of an Executive Council meeting on Tuesday, Lee said the upgraded high-speed train services demonstrate the central government’s care for Hong Kong. The sleeper trains, which will depart Hong Kong at night and arrive at their destinations the next morning, will offer travelers a comfortable and faster option.
He thanked the mainland authorities for providing the additional rail services, which will enhance travel comfort between Hong Kong and the mainland and meet the needs of cross-boundary travelers.
“It’s of great significance promoting people-to-people exchanges among Hong Kong and the mainland residents, as well as Hong Kong’s deeper integration into the nation’s overall development,” Lee said.
Through trains between Hong Kong and the mainland began more than century ago, with the launch of Guangzhou-Hong Kong rail services in 1911. The service was interrupted several times before being normalized in 1979.
Through-train services between Hong Kong and Beijing and Shanghai started in May 1997 - about a month before Hong Kong’s return to the motherland.
The nation’s high-speed railway network was extended to Hong Kong in 2018 after the completion of the Hong Kong section of the Guangzhou–Shenzhen–Hong Kong Express Rail Link, as well as West Kowloon Station.
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All three through-train routes were suspended in early 2020 following the outbreak of the pandemic.
