The high-speed train service linking Hong Kong with mainland China resumed on Sunday, January 15, nearly three years after it was closed due to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The route will connect West Kowloon to Shenzhen North and Guangzhou South, with a stop at Guangzhou East now introduced for the first time.
One-way ticket sales have been limited to 10 000 per day, with 80 trains making the journey each day along the line, which cuts travel time from Hong Kong to the mainland city of Guangzhou from two hours to just 47 minutes.
The MTR Corporation, the public transport company that operates the Hong Kong side of the link, said more than 3 000 tickets had been sold on Thursday, January 12 alone for China-bound trips ahead of the launch, according to CNN.
The reopening is initially only for short journeys, MTR Chairman Rex Auyeung told Reuters reporters at the station, but there has been no further clarity yet on which long-haul journeys would resume or when.
