📋 Tender Overview
Following is a question by the Hon Gary Zhang a reply by the Secretary for Transport and Logistics Ms Mable Chan in the Legislative Council today July 23
Question
The MTR Corporation Limited MTRCL launched in August 2023 the Sameday Flexitrip Arrangement Flexitrip for passengers travelling between Hong Kong West Kowloon Station and Futian Station of the GuangzhouShenzhenHong Kong Express Rail Link The service has been extended to include train trips running to and from Shenzhenbei Station since March 18 last year In this connection will the Government inform this Council
1 whether it knows the current number of Flexitripapplicable train trips its percentage in the total number of train trips running via Futian Station andor Shenzhenbei Station and the average proportion of passengers utilising Flexitrip among such train trips
2 whether it knows the average occupancy rates of Flexitripapplicable train trips during weekdays weekends and public holidays respectively from August 2023 to March 17 last year and from March 18 last year to the present and
3 as it is learnt that the GuangzhouShenzhen Intercity Railway fully implemented the electronic ticket valid once throughout the ticketed date services in March this year allowing passengers who have purchased their tickets to travel on trains of the same direction and of the same class throughout the ticketed date without having to alter tickets whether the Government will require MTRCL to study applying this ticketing model to Flexitrip so as to facilitate passenger travel if so of the details if not the reasons for that
Reply
President
Since the commissioning of the Hong Kong Section of the GuangzhouShenzhenHong Kong Express Rail Link XRL on September 23 2018 the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region HKSAR Government and the operator of the XRL Hong Kong Section ie the MTR Corporation Limited MTRCL have all along been committed to enhancing the services and operational arrangements of the XRL with a view to fully realising its socioeconomic benefits and the advantages of interconnectivity with the national highspeed rail network The XRL Hong Kong Section connects with the national high speed rail network which currently spans over 47 000 kilometres The number of Mainland destinations directly accessible from West Kowloon Station has more than doubled from 44 in the initial commissioning to 96 including 11 shorthaul destinations and 85 longhaul destinations The number of train trips operated per day has also increased from 166 in the initial stage to at least 208 currently Apart from gradually introducing more destinations the MTRCL has been actively exploring the provision of diversified XRL train services and products with the Mainland railway authorities with a view to providing convenience to passengers and meeting their different needs Of these there are Sameday Flexitrip Arrangement Flexitrip Arrangement that provides greater flexibility in journey planning for shorthaul travellers multiple journey tickets such as the 30day Ticket and 20ride Ticket for frequent travellers commuting between the two places and sleeper train service running in the mode of evening departures and morning arrivals that provides an alternative travelling experience to longhaul travellers The XRL caters for the different needs of travellers ranging from shorthaul and longhaul trips to business leisure and family visits facilitating more frequent flow of people between the two places
In consultation with the MTRCL my consolidated reply to the question raised by the Hon Gary Zhang is as follows
1 and 2 The Flexitrip Arrangement first introduced on August 14 2023 was a new ticketing arrangement allowing passengers travelling between West Kowloon Station and Futian Station to flexibly alter their train trips on the same day Apart from altering their tickets once for free before train departure through the General Ticket Alteration arrangement passengers are also allowed to alter their train trips for up to three times on the day of travel through the Flexitrip Arrangement Since March 18 2024 the arrangement has been extended to cover direct trains running between West Kowloon Station and Shenzhenbei Station and trains departing from or terminating at Shenzhenbei Station that call at Futian Station Nonreserved Seats are also available for train trips covered by the Flexitrip Arrangement to provide more room and flexibility to passengers in altering their train trips
According to the information provided by the MTRCL starting from July 1 2025 there is a daily total of 109 train trips at West Kowloon Station calling at departing from or terminating at Futian Station with 74 of these train trips open for the Flexitrip Arrangement accounting for nearly 70 per cent of the total and 167 trains calling at departing from or terminating at Shenzhenbei Station with 60 of these trains open for Flexitrip Arrangement accounting for about 40 per cent of the total Overall Flexitrip Arrangement is applicable to a total of 98 train trips
Based on the MTRCLs assessment after the introduction of the Flexitrip Arrangement the overall patronage of the relevant train trips has increased suggesting that Flexitrip Arrangement is one of the factors attracting more passengers to take the XRL The average loading of the Flexitrip Arrangementapplicable train trips was about 40 per cent for the first phase and remained at similar level after the extension of the arrangement to Shenzhenbei Station in the second phase among which the related loading was nearly 60 per cent on average during weekends and public holidays Of the train trips applicable for Flexitrip Arrangement passengers using Flexitrip Arrangement account for an average of nearly 10 per cent of the total patronage of these trips
3 With the increasingly frequent flow of people between Hong Kong and the Mainland the commissioning of the XRL Hong Kong Section has realised the onehour l
