Technical glitch, or are you on China’s blacklist? Ticket sales for new HK$84.4 billion Hong Kong high-speed rail link hit by more problems days before it opens

Sales sluggish for second day as vending machines struggle to recognise some home return permits and online system is apparently shut down for the morning – or is China Railway Corporation list of banned passengers already in effect in the city?

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Passengers queue to buy advanced tickets at the West Kowloon terminus. Photo: Nora Tam

Published: 10:00pm, 11 Sep 2018Updated: 11:56am, 12 Sep 2018

A simple glitch, or something else altogether? Ticket sales for the new cross-border high-speed rail link were beset by problems for the second day running on Tuesday.

As it was revealed vending machines at the new West Kowloon terminus cannot read older home return permits, fears emerged surrounding a China Railway Corporation blacklist that prevents those on it from using the rail operator’s vast mainland network.

The blacklist presently applies to mainland Chinese citizens, but will be extended to Hongkongers when the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link opens on September 23, and one lawmaker is calling for information on its implementation to be made public.

Mr Wong tried to buy tickets via the mainland’s online ticketing system but his request was denied. Photo: Sam Tsang

Whatever the case, ticket sales continued to fall below expectations, with 3,266 sold as of 6pm on Tuesday, of which 1,293 were bought at counters and ticketing machines, 1,654 online, and 319 over the telephone. Sales got off to a bumpy start on Monday, with 7,079 tickets sold in advance.

Several buyers reported problems with the system, and while business was brisk at the counters, issues with the vending machines and the suspension of the online system in the morning brought complaints.

Mr Kwok, who holds a first generation home return permit, said he had no choice but to buy his ticket at the terminus, but said as far as he knew “even the mainland’s vending machines can’t read the older generation home return permits”.