Naturally we want Hong Kong's transport system to be connected to the one on the mainland. The problem is that we don't have the vital facts about some of the plans on the table. Two of the most expensive projects - the Hong Kong-Guangzhou-Shenzhen express rail link and the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau bridge - need proper scrutiny and perhaps even a rethink. Yet, we seem to have missed a crucial point.
Regional rail development plans show a web of rail and rapid-transit lines linking cities in the Pearl River Delta. There is already a train link from Hung Hom to Lo Wu and on to Guangzhou. This service will continue.
We can already get from Central and Kowloon to Lo Wu by MTR and then cross the border to take a fast train from Shenzhen to Guangzhou. There is also a good underground rail system from Lo Wu to help us get around Shenzhen.
The new express rail link will run from West Kowloon, through Lok Ma Chau and Shenzhen, to the new Shibi railway hub southwest of Guangzhou, where passengers will need to change trains if they wish to get into the heart of the city.
Many people in Hong Kong were shocked to hear that the service would not actually terminate in Guangzhou. Taking transit arrangements into account, it won't, in fact, be nearly as convenient as people have assumed.
We may be missing something here, though: the key Shibi interchange connects to major rail lines to the west and central parts of China, such as to Guizhou and Wuhan . The high-speed line was never planned to end in Guangzhou but, instead, as a joining point for long-distance travel.