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Cannix Yau

Almost 40 per cent fewer passengers took Hong Kong’s new high-speed trains to mainland China during the second day of business on Monday, but the boss of the city’s railway operator insists sales will pick up as recommendations spread through word of mouth.
Just 46,463 travellers passed through the immigration checkpoint at Hong Kong’s West Kowloon terminal – a 38 per cent drop on the 75,517 on Sunday and a far cry from the 80,000 daily estimate by the MTR Corporation.


Tuesday’s number was also poor, with only 21,375 travelling in and out of West Kowloon as of 4pm.
But MTR Corp chairman Frederick Ma Si-hang on Tuesday gave an upbeat assessment for the HK$84.4 billion (US$10.8 billion) Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link, which has been more than a decade in the making.
SCMP reporters find out how high-speed rail compares to other transport options
Ma said during a visit to the station that he was “not worried” about ticket sales.
“For this kind of big infrastructure project, it takes time for it to pick up steam. People shouldn’t judge its popularity by the first or second day,” he said.

Ma envisaged the numbers growing as Hongkongers grew more familiar with the service.
“The high-speed rail will become very popular by word of mouth when people discover it’s possible to use the new service for a day trip to Guangzhou,” he said.
At Lo Wu and the Lok Ma Chau spur line – the two most popular Hong Kong-mainland border checkpoints – 192,296 people crossed on Monday at the former and 132,119 at the latter.




Monday’s plunge in passengers for the express rail came after the first day of service on Sunday saw confusion over ticket collections, disorderly crowds and technical glitches.
There were long lines to collect tickets pre-ordered via mainland website 12306.cn. Ma said the issue concerned integration of the local ticketing system with the mainland’s – a process not yet complete.
More ticket counters at Hong Kong terminus of high-speed rail link after chaotic first day
Passengers with bookings on 12306 were unable to pick up tickets from self-service machines, and were forced into long queues for between five and seven manned counters.

“We are in discussions with the China Railway Corporation to install automatic machines for issuing tickets booked on 12306. But it takes time,” Ma said.
On Tuesday, a public holiday in Hong Kong, large crowds were seen around shops and restaurants in the station, but travellers at the departure zone were few and far between.
Dr Hung Wing-tat, a fellow of the Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies, said it was unfair to judge the rail link on just one or two days.
“It’s still too early to say if it will meet expectations,” Hung said. “It takes at least a month to really get a clear picture of turnover.”



Expansion of Hong Kong high-speed rail services ‘game-changing’ for tourism

Expanded Hong Kong-mainland rail links can be engine of growth

Seats sell out on Hong Kong’s new high-speed rail routes to mainland China

Hong Kong to offer direct high-speed rail access to 16 more mainland Chinese stops

Hong Kong high-speed rail

Almost 40 per cent dive in Hong Kong express rail passengers on second day of service, but MTR boss unperturbed

A high-speed train to Guangzhou in action. Photo: AFP

Harry's View cartoon for September 26, 2018. Image: Harry Harrison

Passengers on the train leaving the West Kowloon High Speed Rail Station to Shenzhen on the third day of the Express Rail Link (XRL). 25SEP18 SCMP / Felix Wong

A G79 Fuxing bullet train, the first high-speed train service from Beijing West station to Hong Kong West Kowloon station following the opening of the Hong Kong section of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link, leaves the Beijing West Station in Beijing, China September 23, 2018. REUTERS/Stringer ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. CHINA OUT. NO COMMERCIAL OR EDITORIAL SALES IN CHINA.

Power outage on Hong Kong’s MTR after Mid-Autumn Festival lantern lands on train

Passengers at one of the stations during the incident. Photo: Handout

Passengers on a halted train with limited illumination. SCMP Pictures (UNDATED HANDOUT)

Two sky lanterns burned on trees in Tai Om, Tai Po. SCMP Pictures (UNDATED HANDOUT)

The delays, inflated costs and legal wrangles that have plagued the MTR Corporation’s Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail

The line’s debut will come three years later than intended. Photo: AFP

Monitors sit above passenger seating a Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link (XRL) train in Hong Kong, China, on Thursday, Aug. 16, 2018. The high-speed rail link connects Hong Kong to the southern Chinese cities of Shenzhen and Guangzhou. Photographer: Justin Chin/Bloomberg

‘Rare and serious’ 50cm-long crack found on Hong Kong light rail track, causing MTR to divert trains

Workers near the MTR’s light rail stop Goodview Garden in Tuen Mun fixing the track where a 50-cm long crack was discovered before noon on Thursday. Photo: Edward Wong

Workers fixing the rail where the 50-cm long crack was discovered before noon on Thursday near the Goodview Garden stop in Tuen Mun. 20SEP18 SCMP/ Edward Wong

Do more to market mainland China express rail link to Hongkongers, MTR told

On the first day of operations on Sunday, 95 return trains will run along the line. Photo: Winson Wong

MTR Media Preview of Hong Kong West Kowloon Station Open Days in preparation of opening the High Speed Rail Terminus. 01SEP18 SCMP / Felix Wong

News

Hong Kong

Transport

Hong Kong Economy

Only 46,463 travellers took trains on Monday, well short of previous estimate of 80,000 daily


Only 46,463 travellers took trains on Monday, well short of previous estimate of 80,000 daily.


MTR Corporation

Transport and logistics

Almost 40 per cent dive in Hong Kong express rail passengers on second day of service, but MTR boss unperturbed

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Only 46,463 travellers took trains on Monday, well short of previous estimate of 80,000 daily

Only 46,463 travellers took trains on Monday, well short of previous estimate of 80,000 daily