Hong Kong’s rapprochement with mainland China continues with a new high-speed sleeper train that will connect the special administrative region with Beijing and Shanghai, halving the current rail journey time.
Faster journeys, more trains and more stops
Operating Friday through Monday from 15 June 2024, the Beijing train will depart Hong Kong West Kowloon Station at 6:24 pm, pulling into the capital in time for breakfast at 6:53 am the next day. The Shanghai service will leave Hong Kong just over an hour later, at 7:49 pm, arriving in the so-called ‘Paris of the East’ port city at 6:45 am the following morning.
There will be more weekly trains scheduled, up from 14 to 16. With a journey time to Beijing of 12.5 hours and 11 hours to Shanghai, and – counter-intuitively – more stops in between the start and end points, the overnight service allows travellers to “maximize their travel time and conveniently plan their business or leisure itineraries,” Hong Kong’s railway operator, MTR said.
The practicality of the fast overnight train was also emphasized by Hong Kong’s Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu who hailed the “convenient and fast” new service.
#CRnews High-speed sleeper trains running overnight between the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and the cities of Beijing and Shanghai will operate soon to replace the through trains that have been suspended since the COVID-19 pandemic. #ChinaRailway pic.twitter.com/VL1L19bBHB
— China Railway (@ChinaRailways) June 5, 2024
Advanced facilities and streamlined customs
Travelling by air to Shanghai and Beijing remains slightly cheaper (roughly $78 and $100 respectively, compared to rail tickets expected at $87 and $120). Flying is of course also faster than making the journey by rail, with flights taking around three hours. But the option to sleep on the train could save passengers both time and the expense of a hotel, Lee Ka-chiu pointed out.
In addition, the trains will feature advanced facilities and possess a capacity of over 600 passengers. The hassle entailed in two-location customs inspections will also be removed, with processing streamlined into a one-stop shop at West Kowloon Station.
Exchanges of culture and trade
Rail travel has seen a huge upsurge in China since the lifting of Covid travel restrictions, with 10.74 million journeys on the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link since the start of 2023, representing a year-on-year increase of just under 80%.
China’s National Immigration Administration laid out a series of new measures in April, such as the 30-day stays now permitted in Hong Kong and Macao for certain categories of traveller from the mainland. The development of train services and the new moves will be “significant” said Lee Ka-chiu, “in fostering the people-to-people, business-to-business exchanges and the integration between Hong Kong and the mainland.”
