A Memorandum of Understanding was signed between Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government and China Railways Corporation (CR) on the preparation of the operational issued for the rail section linking Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Hong Kong, the Express Rail Link (XRL).
Secretary for Transport and Housing of HKSAR government Chan Fan and Director of the General Office of CR Han Jiangping signed the memorandum in the government house of Hong Kong.
According to the Memorandum, both parties plan to operate 127 train pairs daily, comprising 114 pairs of short-haul trains and 13 pairs of long-haul trains at the early stage of commissioning. Both parties also agreed that the train schedule could be adjusted subject to the actual operational needs.
The short-haul trains will run between West Kowloon Station and the Futian, Shenzhen North, Humen and Guangzhou South stations. There will be direct long-haul trains to cities including Beijing, Shanghai, Kunming, Guilin, Guiyang, Shijiazhuang, Zhengzhou, Wuhan, Changsha, Hangzhou, Nanchang, Fuzhou, Xiamen and Shantou.
Both sides have agreed to set the ticket price on their own, that is, the Mainland section and Hong Kong section of XRL set the price respectively. The price of the cross-border rail service will therefore be a total of the two.
“I am glad that the HKSAR government and CR signed the Memorandum today. It marks the reaching of consensus in principle on financial and operational matters by both parties, and lays a sound foundation for the commissioning of the Hong Kong Section of the XRL in the third quarter this year and its smooth operation subsequently,” HKSAR Chief Executive Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor said.
HKSAR government is still negotiating a future profit-sharing arrangement with CR, but the two sides have agreed to settle the fares in renminbi.
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