Line tipped to boost economies
The high-speed cross-border rail line would boost the flow of people and goods, and was vindication for mainland planners' emphasis on infrastructure development, said a researcher in urban development.
Gao Haiyan, of the Shenzhen Academy of Social Sciences, said: 'Infrastructure projects can boost the inflow of people and goods to Hong Kong and the most developed areas of Guangdong. Integration will definitely accelerate not just economic growth in Hong Kong but also between them.'
He said Hong Kong had lagged behind other cities such as Guangzhou in terms of railway and highway development. 'Time has proven our view,' he said.
The Hong Kong government expects 100,000 people to be using the line each day by 2020. Of these, it expects 63,000 to be existing users of cross-border rail, bus, boat or air services.
Chow Chung-kong, chief executive of the MTR Corporation, expects the new line to corner 15 per cent of the market for travel to and from Guangdong.
Cross-boundary bus operators lost nearly half their passengers when the frequency of through-train services increased in 1998. They worry they could lose passengers to the high-speed service, but believe they will survive the competition. The Hong Kong Guangdong Boundary Crossing Bus Association, whose 20 member companies operate 10 cross-border routes, says it may consolidate routes to improve efficiency.
Its secretary, Sammy Chow Hing-wong, said: 'Our journey time will be less than 21/2 hours next year, and our fares are just one third of the rail fare.'
Property agents in Shenzhen say the line will be a selling point.
'Convenient transport to Hong Kong would be definitely a good point for me to promote,' said agent Zhang Wei.
