Chief executive confident in XRL potential

Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor on Tuesday stressed her full confidence in the recently launched highspeed rail service.

Lam made the remarks at a press briefing before the weekly Executive Council meeting, replying to media queries over the lower-than-expected number of passengers recorded in the past week since the launch of the Hong Kong section of the Guangzhou-ShenzhenHong Kong Express Rail Link.

According to Immigration Department statistics, some 78,000 people entered or exited Hong Kong through the border control point in the West Kowloon Station on Monday — the first day of the seven-day National Day holiday on the mainland.

The number is the highest recorded since the launch of the XRL Hong Kong section on Sept 23, though still lower than the government’s estimate of 80,000 people a day.

The official estimate is not a target for XRL operations, but the best estimate at the time based on several factors, including the frequency of trains and an assessment of people’s traveling arrangements, explained Lam.

The CE stressed the highspeed rail is a new crossboundary infrastructure which people need time to get used to.

She hoped people can look at the prospects. The West Kowloon Cultural District — a complex of museums and cultural venues — has yet to open. It would also attract more tourists when it opens, added Lam.

The CE also said that the estimate about passenger trips was put into the agreement signed between the government-owned Kowloon-Canton Railway and the Mass Transit Railway corporations. There was no need to worry about the financial situation, she said.

Frederick Ma Si-hang, chairman of Hong Kong’s highspeed rail operator MTR Corporation, said many citizens have not yet realized the convenience offered by the high-speed train.

He believes that with further publicity and promotion, the number of passengers will rise in future. In time people might even complain that the West Kowloon Station is too small, Ma ventured.

The Immigration Department data shows that about 990,000 people left or entered Hong Kong on Monday — with 650,000 people entering. About 270,000 people used the Lo Wu Control Point.