Time's up for intercity through trains

Ayra Wang

The intercity through train is officially no more as the General Administration of Customs of China yesterday announced the closure of four intercity train ports in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Dongguan.

High-speed railways have officially replaced the intercity trains, which began operating in 1911.

"Since the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail was officially put into commission in September 2018, the high-speed rail service has effectively met the travel needs of mainland and Hong Kong passengers, and more trains have been added since June," the General Administration of Customs said.

A new long-haul route to Hunan province, with six destinations, including Zhangjiajie, was introduced on June 15.

The high-speed rail sleeper trains were also introduced on the Hong Kong-Beijing and Hong Kong-Shanghai routes, with two trains running on Monday, Friday and on the weekends on each route.

The State Council approved the closure of the four train ports on July 5," the General Administration of Customs said.

It added that the closures will not affect the operation of high-speed rail service between Hong Kong and the mainland.

Commissioner of Beijing Railway Station Customs Liu Wenbin said passengers will complete clearance procedures at Hong Kong West Kowloon Station.

"For example, if a passenger takes the high-speed rail train from Beijing West Railway Station to Hong Kong, [they] can go through co-location border-crossing procedures at the station in Hong Kong, which facilitates more convenient traveling," Liu said.

The intercity trains, operated by MTR, used to run between Hung Hom station and Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, with four ports in Dongguan, Guangzhou, Shanghai and Beijing West Railway Station set up along the routes.

Since the Express Rail Link started operating, the passenger volume on the trains continued to drop, from about 11,7000 per day in 2018 to nearly 6,900 in 2019.

In 2019, the Transport and Housing Bureau revealed a further drop by 30 percent and said services would be adjusted.

The service was suspended in January 2020 during the pandemic and has not resumed since.