Thumbs-up for new rail route

Around 120 passengers responded positively after taking the first train to Jiangmen yesterday morning, as the MTR Corp launched a new High-speed rail route to the Greater Bay Area.

This new line from Hong Kong's West Kowloon Station would head towards Zhanjiang West, passing through four other new stations - Jiangmen, Kaipingnan, Yangjiang and Maoming, offering a train northbound and a train southbound daily.

A group of 120 travelers, as the first to try out the service, started their trip from the West Kowloon Station and celebrated their sightseeing trip to Jiangmen by High-speed rail.

Passengers expressed their excitement about the new train, including a woman, Lee, who said: "I had to transit at Guangzhou South station without the high-speed rail services. It's more convenient now. It now takes me around two hours to Jiangmen."

Another passenger, Cheung, said it is more comfortable to travel to cities like Yangjiang and Maoming.

"In the past, we had to take coaches to Yangjiang and Maoming, and it was exhausting. It usually took several hours," said Cheung. "But now we can book the trip the night before and depart Hong Kong the next day with high-speed railways."

Tickets for the new route to Zhanjiang West were available for purchase from October 4, with a first-class ticket costing HK$816, and a business-class ticket costing HK$1,549 for adults. Second-class tickets for adults cost HK$518 .

Jeny Yeung Mei-chun, managing director of MTR's Hong Kong Transport Services, said: "The new line that we are launching will connect to well-known overseas communities in the Jiangmen and Kaiping areas, which have deep ties with many Hong Kong residents and overseas compatriots."

Meanwhile, the fares for nine long-haul destinations - Chengdu East, Leshan, Yibin West, Guiyang East, Chongqing West, Zunyi, Kunming South, Guiyang North and Guilin West - were also adjusted yesterday, with the traveling time being shortened by an hour to 1 1/2 hours.

A passenger, Lai, who took the railway to Guizhou yesterday, said it cost him HK$79 more to get to his destination.

"We no longer need to leave home two hours in advance ... we can sleep two more hours now," he said.

The MTRC also strengthened existing train services between Hong Kong and Guangzhou East, as well as Futian station, as train frequencies between Shenzhen and the SAR were increased from 178 to 184, alongside an extension in train services to 8.18pm back from Guangzhou East, from the previous 6.45pm.

The West Kowloon high-speed rail station received up to 100,000 passengers per day during the National Day golden week holiday - lower than its capacity of some 150,000 people.

Lawmaker Gary Zhang Xinyu said authorities could increase the number of trains.

"We do not have to wait until all trains are full to add more trains," he said. "By introducing more trains, we can attract more passengers as they now have the added option to take the high-speed rail, in addition to the East Rail Line and cross-border buses."

ayra.wang@singtaonewscorp.com