Letters | Why Hong Kong needs high-speed overnight trains to Beijing
- With two flights to Beijing cancelled in a single evening, an overnight train ride seems a win-win for both passengers and the railway
Early evening on Thursday (May 16), I was due to board a flight to Beijing for a series of meetings the next day. I received a message from Cathay stating that my flight had been cancelled. Odd, I thought, as I asked to be moved to the next available flight. I booked the next available flight as I waited at the airport. Two hours before the scheduled departure, my flight to Beijing was cancelled again.
Apparently, the official reason was “air traffic control in Beijing”, which may mean a variety of things (for instance, the People’s Liberation Army Air Force conducting drills, important officials flying in and out, etc)
One workaround to this frustrating inconvenience would be an overnight high-speed train from Hong Kong to Beijing, a journey of nine hours. Depart at 9pm from West Kowloon and arrive in Beijing at 6am the following day. Throw in a flat bed with reasonable creature comforts, and there must be a market for that.
At the moment, the only train service wastes your entire day, departing in the morning and arriving in Beijing in the evening. The MTR Corporation should seriously explore this profitable business opportunity.
Gabriel Lee, Wan Chai