XRL to link 44 direct destinations
Number more than double originally planned; operation starts Sept 23
The much-anticipated Hong Kong section of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link will be launched on the morning of Sept 23 with direct trains to 44 destinations, the city’s Transport and Housing Bureau announced on Thursday.
Those include six short-haul destinations and 38 long-haul destinations, according to the bureau, or more than double the previously confirmed 18 destinations.
Among the newly added destinations, Guangmingcheng in Shenzhen and Qingsheng in Guangzhou were selected for their development potential, while some long-haul destinations were chosen due to their status as popular tourist spots, Secretary for Transport and Housing Frank Chan Fan told reporters.
The XRL will operate 114 pairs of short-haul trains daily during peak seasons, including public holidays of Hong Kong and the mainland, summer holidays of July and August and the Chinese New Yew peak travel season. During the nonpeak periods, 82 pairs will operate on weekends (Friday to Sunday), and 70 pairs on weekdays (Monday-Thursday).
A total of 13 pairs of direct long-haul trains will operate daily. An additional pair could be added subject to market demand, Chan said.
The fare price of a secondclass ticket to short-haul destinations will range from 68 yuan (HK$78) to 215 yuan (HK$247). For long-haul destinations, such as Shanghai and Beijing, a second-class ticket will cost 1,008 yuan and 1,077 yuan, respectively.
All tickets will be priced in renminbi. Their corresponding price in Hong Kong dollars will be adjusted on a monthly basis subject to fluctuations in the exchange rate, according to the fare adjustment mechanism.
According to the MTR Corporation, special tickets will also be offered for XRL passengers, similar to practices of the China Railway Corporation, the sole railway operator on the Chinese mainland.
They include a half-price ticket which will be available for children 120 cm to 150 cm tall. Another half-price ticket will be offered to benefit Hong Kong students studying on the mainland.
According to a supplemental agreement signed by MTRC and the Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation, which is wholly owned by the Hong Kong government, KCRC will grant MTRC a 10-year concession to operate the XRL.
MTRC will make payments to KCRC based on XRL passenger numbers. According to Chan, the 10-year concession will cost MTRC more than HK$2.7 billion, based on a conservative passenger forecast.
The related parties agreed on special arrangements to be enacted in the event passenger numbers deviate considerably from the projection. If passenger numbers are more than 15 percent lower than projected, KCRC will bear 70 percent of the cost. If the numbers exceed 15 percent of the projection, MTRC will pay 70 percent of the overage to KCRC.
Secretary for Transport and Housing Frank Chan Fan announced on Thursday that Mass Transit Railway Corporation will be the sole operator of the Hong Kong section of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link, scheduled to open on Sunday, the 23rd of next month. The duration of the contract is reportedly set at 10 years to, understandably, minimize the risk of overburdening the public coffer by operational budget overruns. It also includes a profit-loss cap, which requires the government to bear 70 percent of any losses beyond 15 percent of its operational budget. Conversely, the MTRC must give the government 70 percent of its profit above 15 percent of the operational budget. The “cap” is seen as an incentive for MTRC to do its best to make a profit while providing quality service, because the earnings from the XRL operation depend on the passenger volume on the Hong Kong section.
The Hong Kong section of the XRL will finally make Hong Kong a part of the nation’s high-speed railway network, which is already the largest in the world and still growing fast. It will also help Hong Kong play a major role in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area one-hour living circle. The opportunities created by the Bay Area city cluster development plan will be innumerable, but lack of access to the high-speed railway network can make it nearly impossible for Hong Kong residents to seize them because time is crucial to business success. Besides, driving automobiles between Hong Kong and Guangdong is so much hassle and so costly that rail travel is without question the best way compared with road or air travel, which is too short to be economically sensible. That is why the great majority of Hong Kong residents literally cannot wait for the XRL to begin operation.
As the controlling stakeholder of MTRC, the SAR government surprised no one by awarding it the exclusive right to operate the Hong Kong section of the XRL, since the company has no competition when it comes to railway operations in Hong Kong. However, MTRC has regrettably become the victim of its own success, especially after a series of scandals in recent years turned it into a giant target for public ire. Although it is not responsible for the outrageous delays and budget overruns that marred the construction of the 24-kilometer Hong Kong section, including the XRL terminus in West Kowloon, MTRC will have only itself to blame if it fails to live up to public expectations with the new contract. Admittedly all newly opened railways take a while to become profitable, but MTRC is not an average railway operator to begin with, which is why it cannot afford to fail this upcoming test of its mettle as an exceptionally smart and successful rail transport operator in the world.