High-speed railway services between Hong Kong, mainland to fully resume from April 1

The long-haul services of the Express Rail Link (XRL) Hong Kong Section will fully resume starting from April 1, connecting the financial hub with destinations outside the neighboring Guangdong Province, according to a two-step plan announced on Friday.

According to the plan, long-haul services of the Hong Kong Section of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong XRL will gradually resume starting from March 11.

In the first phase, services between Hong Kong West Kowloon Station and three stations, namely Chaoshan, Shantou and Zhaoqingdong in Guangdong, will resume.

The XRL operation has been smooth since its resumption of short-haul services on January 15. By the end of February, the XRL has an average daily patronage of over 23,000 passenger trips, with the highest single-day patronage at nearly 40,000 passenger trips, official data showed.

On January 15, services between Hong Kong West Kowloon Station and Futian, Shenzhenbei and Guangzhounan Stations were resumed.