📋 Tender Overview
Following is a question by the Hon Stanley Ng and a written reply by the Secretary for Transport and Logistics Ms Mable Chan in the Legislative Council today May 20
Question
There are views that the integration into the national highspeed rail network is an integral part in accelerating Hong Kongs collaborative development with the Mainland However there are still many Mainland cities which cannot be directly accessible via the Hong Kong Section of the GuangzhouShenzhenHong Kong Express Rail Link XRL In this connection will the Government inform this Council
1 of the following data to be provided in tabular form given that the number of Mainland destinations directly accessible by trains departing from the West Kowloon Station WKS of XRL has now increased to 110 i the number of additional Mainland direct destinations served by the XRL Hong Kong Section over the past three years and the monthly patronage of the relevant train trips ii the top 10 longhaul destinations with the highest patronage as well as the train trips with a loading rate reaching 90 per cent or above in the past five years iii the respective numbers and percentages of Hong Kong residents and visitors among passengers travelling to and from the additional Mainland direct destinations in each of the past three years
2 given that the 2025 Policy Address proposed that Hong Kong would fully integrate into the overall national development whether the Government knows if the number of Mainland cities that are directly accessible from Hong Kong will be further increased within the XRL network in the future if so of the criteria for prioritising the introduction of the relevant destinations if not the reasons for that
3 given the large number of Hong Kong residents of Fujian origin and some members of the public have relayed that the XRL train trips running between WKS and Quanzhou and Putian are relatively infrequent at present whether the Government will consider discussing with the relevant Mainland authorities about increasing the frequency of such routes if so of the details if not the reasons for that and
4 whether the Government will consider discussing with the relevant Mainland authorities the introduction of Jinjiang as an intermediate stop along the route between WKS and Fuzhou so as to meet the demands of clansmen from Jinjiang if so of the details if not the reasons for that
Reply
President
The Hong Kong Section of the GuangzhouShenzhenHong Kong Express Rail Link XRL was commissioned on September 23 2018 The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region HKSAR Government and the MTR Corporation Limited MTRCL have been in close communication with the relevant Mainland authorities and have continued to expand the number of destinations directly connected to the Hong Kong West Kowloon Station in line with the development of the national highspeed rail network
In consultation with the MTRCL the consolidated reply to the question raised by the Hon Stanley Ng is as follows
1 From 2023 onwards the number of Mainland destinations directly connected to West Kowloon Station has nearly doubled from 58 before the pandemic to 110 as of January 2026 The number of shorthaul destinations has increased from six to 11 with the addition of Dongguannan Changping Dongguan Guangzhouxintang and Guangzhoudong stations whilst the number of longhaul destinations has increased from 52 to 99 Amongst several new direct longhaul routes have been launched on the XRL Hong Kong Section including the Chengdudong Line in July 2023 calling at destinations such as Leshan the Zhanjiangxi Line in October 2023 calling at destinations such as Kaiping Yangjiang Jiangmen the Zhangjiajie Line in June 2024 calling at destinations such as Fenghuanggucheng Huaihua and the Xianbei Line in January 2025 calling at destinations such as Huashan Luoyang furthermore with the upgrade of the Shanghai Hongqiao HighSpeed Rail Line in January 2026 a new route calling at Nanjing Wuxi Hefei and other destinations have been added
New destinations introduced in recent years have been very popular among travellers According to the figures provided by the MTRCL among the stations introduced in recent years the 10 longhaul destinations with the highest patronage travelling tofrom West Kowloon Station include Quanzhounan Quanzhoudong Zhanjiangxi Chengdudong Zhangjiajiexi Meizhouxi Hangzhouxi Xingningnan Kaipingnan and Hefeinan with a total monthly patronage of about 67 000
As regards the loading of XRL trains as each train trip calls at various destinations and travellers may board or alight at various intermediate stations it is difficult to determine the exact loading of the train In terms of patronage among the train trips travelling tofrom West Kowloon Station the patronage of those with Shantou Shenzhenbei Guangzhounan Changshanan or Shanwei as origin or destination is among the top
The average daily patronage of shorthaul and longhaul destinations tofrom West Kowloon Station is tabulated below
Year
Average Daily Patronage
Shorthaul services
Longhaul services
2023
47 000
10 000
2024
60 000
13 000
2025
70 000
15 000
Starting from the resumption of shorthaul services from January 15 2023
Starting from the full resumption of longhaul services from April 1 2023
The MTRCL does not maintain a breakdown of the local and nonlocal patronage According to the statistics on passenger traffic of the Immigration Department the percentage of Hong Kong residents and visitors travelling tofrom the West Kowloon Station is tabulated below
Year
Passenger Traffic
Hong Kong Residents
Visitors
2023
45
55
2024
47
53
2025
47
53
2 The HKSAR Government and the MTRCL will continue to leverage the adjustment of the national highspeed rail network timetable to strive to introduce more intermediate stations and launch more direct longhaul routes so as to provide direct access to more tour
