Think tank proposes direct rail Link between Hong Kong and Shenzhen airports

Our Hong Kong Foundation (OHKF) advocates for the development of a new, dedicated Hong Kong–Shenzhen Inter-Airport Railway (IAR) to directly link Hong Kong International Airport with the national high-speed rail (HSR) network.

Outlined in a report released on Thursday (Nov 20), the OHKF recommends extending the upcoming Hong Kong-Shenzhen Western Rail Link (HSWRL), which is scheduled to be operational by 2035, from its planned terminus in Shenzhen at Qianhai to Shenzhen Bao’an International Airport (SZX).

Concurrently, the proposal calls for the line to be extended from its Hong Kong terminus at Hung Shui Kiu to Hong Kong Airport .

The OHKF urge that the proposed extensions should be developed concurrently to be operational by 2035, minimizing gap with the Second Guangzhou–Shenzhen HSR and prevent further slippage in Hong Kong Airport’s regional connectivity.

The travel time between Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport and SZX will be reduced to approximately 40 minutes once completed, thereby reshaping passenger flows and flight route configurations in the Greater Bay Area (GBA).

“If we fail to seize this critical window and complete the IAR concurrently before the Second Guangzhou-Shenzhen HSR becomes operational by 2035, Hong Kong risks being excluded from the GBA’s ‘airport cluster on the rail,’” said Ryan Ip, vice president of OHKF.

Additionally, the report points out that Hong Kong's lead in airport passenger throughput had already begun to narrow compared to regional aviation hubs such as Singapore, Seoul, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen before the pandemic, and was overtaken in the post-pandemic period.

Therefore, a “do-nothing” approach that relies solely on the increased runway capacity from the Three-Runway System  to maintain competitiveness is not a viable strategy, the report added.