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Friday, September 28, 2018, 23:26
XRL prepares for surge in passengers during 'Golden Week'
By He Shusi
Friday, September 28, 2018, 23:26 By He Shusi

A woman poses for a photo with her daughter aboard the Vibrant Express train from Hong Kong to the Chinese mainland on Sept 23, 2018. (ROY LIU / CHINA DAILY)

Hong Kong’s high-speed rail operator MTR Corporation on Friday said about 250,000 tickets have been sold for the upcoming National Day holiday, which will last for seven days on the Chinese mainland.

READ MORE: CE: High-speed rail to boost future of HK, Bay Area

The company said it would increase staff to about 1,000 a day during “Golden Week” to help passengers in the West Kowloon Station. 

MTR said it would increase staff to about 1,000 a day during “Golden Week” to help passengers in the West Kowloon Station

The city’s sole railway operator made the announcement while meeting the media six days after the Hong Kong section of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link commenced operation on Sept 23. 

The company also revealed measures to maintain efficient daily operations at West Kowloon Station. 

To cope with the long queue in the station, MTRC has run more counters for collecting tickets bought on mainland website 12306.cn, from previous five to 10 on Friday, according to the company’s Operations Director Adi Lau Tin-shing.

In addition, Lau said mainland rail operator China Railway Corporation is installing eight ticket machines in the station. They could further help passengers collecting tickets bought on 12306.cn. But he did not reveal when the machines would be ready.

A Vibrant Express train is seen at Hong Kong's West Kowloon Station on the day of the opening ceremony of the Hong Kong section of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link Sept 22, 2018. (PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)

Lau said the MTRC and CRC would monitor the actual patronage of passengers during Golden Week; it would increase the frequency of trains if necessary. He appealed to the public to check the latest information online or through the hotline before arranging trips. 

ALSO READ: Carrie Lam: HK enters a new era with high-speed rail

Since the Hong Kong section of XRL started operations on Sept 23, it has served about 230,000 passengers – about 46,000 people each day. This is lower than the predicted average of 80,100 people a day.

Since the Hong Kong section of XRL started operations on Sept 23, it has served about 230,000 passengers – about 46,000 people each day

MTRC’s Chief of Operations for High-Speed Rail Francis Li Shing-kee said as it was the city’s first high-speed rail, people need time to become familiar with the new service. He estimated that daily passengers during the Golden Week, a peak period for tourists, could surpass 80,000.

As of Friday, 320,000 tickets had been sold for the next 30 days, Lau said. He said previous tickets sales showed that as the departure date grew closer, more tickets were sold. There were even 30 to 40 percent of passengers coming in to buy tickets and quickly leaving, especially short-haul travelers, he explained.

Lau said there were more passengers traveling from the mainland than to the mainland from Hong Kong in the past five days of operations; the proportion was about 60 percent to 40 percent. 

Also, the mainland website 12306.cn has proved to be a popular ticket-vending channel.

But the limited number of counters to collect tickets resulted in long queues in the station. This was unpleasant for some passengers.

heshusi@chinadailyhk.com


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