A VIP trip to show off the 'new era of the high-speed through-train' ended up a public relations debacle yesterday.
About 20 senior Kowloon-Canton Railway staff and journalists, along with another 500 passengers who had paid $50 extra for the first trip of the faster service, were kept waiting for more than half an hour as the locomotive stood firmly at the platform.
The embarrassed promotional staff described the delay as a 'slight hiccup', and catering staff served rice, soup and seafood in the interim to keep the passengers occupied.
The train finally left at 1.52 pm, and did not arrive at its destination until about 4.30 pm.
Welcoming cadres at Guangzhou were forced to cancel a tea session for their Hong Kong guests to make up for the delay.
Instead, the visitors were ushered to a barely lit stage in front of the immigration counters for an official speech.
