Minister Eyes Smooth Reopening For High-speed Railway

Transport Secretary Lam Sai-hung on Saturday said officials need to see whether the return of high-speed train services to the mainland goes smoothly before they can talk about making more tickets available.

Up to 5,000 passengers a day will be able to make journeys north by the Express Rail Link from Sunday, when services on the high-speed line to stations in Guangdong begin operating again for the first time since early 2020.

Speaking on a radio programme, Lam said he was aware of long lines at West Kowloon station when people started buying tickets on Thursday, but he said there will be better arrangements on Sunday to handle procedures including checking the results of Covid tests.

"I am confident that the situation would be much better. MTR will deploy additional staff to provide assistance to passengers in checking their PCR results, as well as launching the health declaration form required by the mainland," he said.

People can buy tickets on a website run by the mainland rail operator or in person at West Kowloon station. The minister said the authorities had split sales between online and in-person purchases to help passengers.

"I think the allocation of tickets for sale at West Kowloon station is reasonable because that will serve some of the passengers who are not familiarised with the online sale. This will provide an alternative for those passengers who use conventional ways to buy tickets," he said.

Lam said tickets to some destinations had sold out for the days leading up to the Lunar New Year holiday, and officials will talk to their mainland counterparts about allowing more people to travel each day if things go smoothly.

Fewer than 500 of the 5,000 tickets available for Sunday travel were still on sale by noon on Saturday.

Meanwhile, the minister said the number of people travelling into and out of Hong Kong was now at about 35 percent of the level seen before the Covid-19 pandemic. He expects that to rise to 80 percent later this year as more flights become available.