At HK$260 from Hong Kong to Guangzhou, express rail fares will cost more than earlier estimates
While critics raise concerns that travellers may seek cheaper alternatives, the government says the high-speed rail link will attract businesspeople and others seeking a faster and more comfortable journey
Travellers from Hong Kong to Guangzhou on the high-speed rail link opening later this year will have to pay HK$260 (US$33) per trip under finalised fares that are much higher than original estimates.
The 48-minute journey from the city’s West Kowloon station to Guangzhou South will cost HK$50 more than the existing – although slower – cross-border “through-train” service from Hung Hom to Guangzhou East.
Fares from West Kowloon to Futian in Shenzhen, Shenzhen North and Humen in Dongguan city will be set at HK$80, HK$90, and HK$210 respectively.
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While opposition lawmakers raised concern that the fares were not competitive enough and commuters might find them too expensive, their pro-establishment counterparts, together with the government, countered that they were reasonable and would attract business travellers and those who valued time over money.
The new fare structure is higher than the government’s previous projections, which were based partly on patronage forecasts.
After the Transport and Housing Bureau first estimated in 2009 that tickets to Shenzhen would cost HK$45 to HK$49, the figures were raised to HK$53-HK$57 in 2016. Over the same period, the estimated fare to Humen went up from HK$131 to HK$153, and to Guangzhou, from HK$180 to HK$210.