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Tuesday, October 02, 2018, 14:40
Fast track to Bay Area integration
By He Shusi in Hong Kong
Tuesday, October 02, 2018, 14:40 By He Shusi in Hong Kong

High-speed rail integrates Hong Kong with prosperous region, optimizing the flow of talent, goods and information

Yang Jinliang (center), 85, of Hong Kong, heads home on the first high-speed train from Fuzhou to Hong Kong on Sept 23 after visiting relatives in East China’s Fujian province. (ZHANG GUOJUN / XINHUA)

When the first high-speed train rolled out of West Kowloon Station in Hong Kong at 7 am on Sept 23, it marked a major step in the rapidly evolving Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area development initiative.

The Hong Kong section of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link, also known as the XRL, is only 26 kilometers long.

But it means travelers can make the trip between the heart of Hong Kong and the central business district in Shenzhen, South China’s Guangdong province, in 14 minutes. And Guangzhou, the provincial capital, is now less than 50 minutes away from Hong Kong.

It eliminates almost an hour of travel time compared with other forms of transportation such as intercity trains or cross-boundary buses.

More than 300,000 tickets were sold on Sept 23, when 10 local tour groups left from West Kowloon for various mainland destinations, according to MTR Corp, the link’s operator.

The new railway is expected to carry 80,100 cross-boundary passengers daily by the end of this year, officials with the Hong Kong Transport and Housing Bureau said.

An open day is held at West Kowloon Station on Sept 22 ahead of the new line’s official launch. (PHOTO BY EDMOND TANG / CHINA DAILY)

Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, chief executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, said that with the combined effect of a series of cross-border infrastructure projects, including the XRL, the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge and the third runway for the Hong Kong International Airport, Hong Kong will have a better connection with the Bay Area and support the area’s development by optimizing the flow of talent, goods and information.

Located in the Pearl River Delta, the Bay Area comprises nine cities in Guangdong, plus Hong Kong and Macao.

Last year, the total GDP contributed by all 11 cities in the region stood at 11.7 trillion yuan (US$1.7 trillion), meaning that 5 percent of the national population contributed more than 14 percent of GDP in 2017.

The high-speed line connects Hong Kong to more than 25,000 km of track on the mainland, the world’s longest rail network.

Direct trains can travel from Hong Kong to 44 destinations in 38 cities on the mainland at speeds of up to 310 km/h, including Beijing and Shanghai. Thirty-four of these cities are less than five hours away, including provincial capitals, such as Wuhan (Hubei province), Changsha (Hunan), Nanchang (Jiangxi) and tourism hubs including Xiamen (Fujian), Guilin (Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region) and Shantou (Guangdong).

The new link has triggered considerable excitement in Hong Kong. When advance tickets went on sale on Sept 10, people lined up hours before the ticket office opened. Many jockeyed for position to experience their first ride on a high-speed train. Tickets for the first train on Sept 23 from Hong Kong to Shenzhen North sold out in four hours.

The 142-km line is part of the country’s first medium- and long-term railway network plan, which was approved by the State Council, China’s Cabinet, in early 2004. The blueprint proposed the construction of four north-south and four east-west passenger lines extending for more than 12,000 km nationwide.

Construction of the first section of the XRL, from Guangzhou South to Shenzhen North, began in December 2005, and the line was officially opened at the end of 2011. The second section, from Shenzhen North to Futian in Shenzhen’s central business district, opened in December 2015.

Customs officers use X-ray machines to inspect luggage in the Mainland Port Area at West Kowloon Station in Hong Kong. (PHOTO BY EDMOND TANG / CHINA DAILY)

Construction of the final section from Hong Kong started in January 2010.

Before the XRL reached Hong Kong, 30 percent of the 10,000 mainland travelers who visited the city each day arrived at the high-speed rail terminus in Shenzhen, and transferred to the local subway or cross-boundary coaches to get to Hong Kong through Futian or Luohu districts.

But the launch of the Hong Kong section and the joint checkpoint arrangement at West Kowloon Station has made cross-boundary journeys much easier.

The so-called co-location arrangement designates 25 percent of the rail terminus in Hong Kong as a Mainland Port Area, where national laws apply. This allows people leaving or arriving in Hong Kong by high-speed rail to complete both mainland and Hong Kong customs and immigration checks at West Kowloon Station.

During the early stages, 70 pairs of trains will run daily between Hong Kong and Guangzhou on weekdays and 82 pairs on weekends. During peak periods, including public holidays, summer and winter breaks, 114 pairs a day will operate.

Thirteen pairs of direct long-haul trains will also run daily between Hong Kong and major mainland cities.

Hong Kong’s Transport and Housing Bureau predicts that short-haul journeys will be the most popular, serving about 83 percent of 80,100 passengers a day this year.

Among the 44 destinations on the XRL, Futian Station in central Shenzhen is forecast to attract nearly half of the travelers, or 38,700 people a day this year. The figure is expected to rise to 59,000 by 2031.

According to the bureau, this forecast is based on the station’s location in the central business district of Shenzhen, home to the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, the headquarters of a number of well-known conglomerates as well as the Shenzhen Convention and Exhibition Center.

The West Kowloon terminus can be reached by the MTR network in Hong Kong. (PHOTO BY EDMOND TANG / CHINA DAILY)

By 2031, the bureau forecasts that about 129,000 passengers a day will be using the line. This means that 13 years after it opened, the XRL will serve about 47.2 million passengers a year, or about 70 percent of the 68 million people in the Greater Bay Area.

Even so, the predicted volume is only slightly higher than half of the line’s daily maximum capacity, according to the latest figures submitted by the bureau to the Hong Kong Legislative Council.

“In other words, there is ample capacity for the XRL to accommodate more passengers,” the bureau said. “Having regard to the fast-growing economic and tourist developments around the short-haul destinations, we are optimistic that the actual patronage of the XRL will exceed the current forecast.”

Among those who eagerly looked forward to the new link’s launch was Lam, Hong Kong’s chief executive, not only because she is a key figure in the XRL’s birth in the city, but also a high-speed rail fan.

Recalling a family trip last year by high-speed rail to the southern city of Guilin, Lam said she will use this form of travel more for business trips.

In an interview with mainland media before the XRL launch, Lam said the new link will be her first choice of transport for her frequent trips to Shenzhen for meetings with the neighboring city’s officials.

“In 14 minutes, I will arrive at my destination — Futian. The time is even shorter than that I spend visiting some of my colleagues’ offices in Hong Kong,” she said.

The XRL benefits various sectors in Hong Kong, Lam added. It offers the city’s young people easier access to pursue careers, study and live on the mainland. For travelers, the high-speed rail “lifestyle” will greatly improve their overall experience, she said.

Moreover, for businesspeople, it will make trips to the mainland much faster and more convenient.

Eddy Li Sau-hung, president of the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Association, said the XRL enables the city’s businessmen who run factories in the Bay Area to extend their reach to neighboring provinces, such as Hunan and Guangxi, which are within four hours away on the new line.

Li, managing director of Hong Kong watch manufacturer Campell Group, said that with the rising cost of manpower and rents in Guangdong, more profit can be made by transferring some manufacturing to neighboring provinces.

One advantage of the new link over air travel is that its punctuality means some trips can be completed within a day, Li added. Another is that the main stations are usually located in a city center.

A second-class ticket from West Kowloon Station to Shenzhen North costs HK$86 (US$11). (PHOTO BY EDMOND TANG / CHINA DAILY)

Take West Kowloon Station as an example, one of the world’s largest underground high-speed rail stations, covering more than 400,000 square meters.

It is located in one of Hong Kong’s busiest commercial centers, with two subway stations nearby — one of them accessing the Airport Express, by which passengers can reach the airport in around 20 minutes.

After the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge opens later this year, Hong Kong, which has the world’s eighth-busiest passenger airport, will be connected to the west bank of the Pearl River Estuary, making Guangdong cities such as Zhuhai and Zhongshan, along with Macao, just a two-hour drive away.

Timothy Chui Ting-pong, executive director of the Hong Kong Tourism Association, said some travel agencies in the city plan to introduce Bay Area packages.

“More tourism infrastructure will diversify people’s options … and the time saved for travelers can provide them with a better experience,” Chui said.

More transportation options can also trigger competition among cross-boundary coaches, ferries and airlines, leading to fare reductions, which will result in reduced operating costs for travel agencies, he added.

Chui said the industry expects a surge in the number of tourists from the Bay Area to Hong Kong.

According to the latest figures from the Hong Kong Tourism Board, more than 3.63 million people visited the city from the mainland by June this year, accounting for about 77 percent of all visitors.

As West Kowloon Station is surrounded by shopping malls and is next to Victoria Harbour, Chui said a surge in tourist numbers will also lead to a retail industry boom.

Although bringing significant social benefits, the massive rail project has long been challenged by skeptics. The cost of the Hong Kong section of the XRL was about HK$84.42 billion (US$10.75 billion). This has raised questions about the link’s profitability.

According to the Hong Kong Transport and Housing Bureau, more than 90 percent of direct economic benefits from the city’s section will come from cost savings resulting from shorter commuting times.

It is estimated that, over 50 years, the Hong Kong section could save passengers about 39 million hours of journey time per year on average, saving HK$88 billion.

Estimates also show the operating margin of the Hong Kong section will reach 53.4 percent by 2031. An operating margin is a ratio used to measure how well a company controls its costs, and is calculated by dividing operating income by net sales, and expressing it as a percentage.

Gerald Ollivier, transport cluster leader of the World Bank, said: “Since this particular line is built underground, its capital cost per kilometer is substantially higher than traditional high-speed rail lines. Accordingly, a high operating margin will be required to cover this cost.”

Hong Kong’s Secretary for Transport and Housing, Frank Chan Fan, said the aim of the city government’s investment in the XRL is to facilitate the flow of cross-boundary travelers, and to promote regional economic growth, rather than simply focusing on profitability.

Carlos Casanova, an economist and strategist on China and other Asian countries at Coface, a global credit insurance and risk assessment company, said the XRL is more about the long-term economic transformation within the Bay Area.

He said the link will significantly boost the frequency of exchanges among people from the manufacturing industry in Guangdong cities such as Dongguan, Foshan and Huizhou, the technology sector in Shenzhen and the financial services industry in Hong Kong.

Witman Hung Wai-man, a Hong Kong deputy to the National People’s Congress, the country’s top legislature, hopes the Hong Kong government can subsidize the MTR Corp, to enable more discounts such as monthly passes or seasonal passes for young cross-boundary commuters.

Hung, also Hong Kong’s chief liaison officer at the Shenzhen Qianhai Authority, a joint modern service industry cooperation zone, said the subsidy would account for a small proportion of the government budget, but could encourage more people to live or work on the mainland, and ease living pressure in Hong Kong, especially for young people.

The city has been the world’s least-affordable housing market for eight consecutive years, according to the latest study by Demographia, an urban planning policy consultancy, in its annual report in January.

The study found the median price of a home in Hong Kong was 19.4 times the median annual pre-tax household income for last year, up from 18.1 times in the previous study.

Luis Liu contributed to the story.

heshusi@chinadailyhk.com


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