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Kanis Leung

Passengers taking the high-speed railway between Hong Kong and mainland China may soon be able to escape pre-ordering ticket procedures, with rail operators on both sides of the border in talks to simplify the process.
Michael Tien Puk-sun, a lawmaker and former railway boss, said the MTR Corporation and the China Railway Corporation were considering a proposal to allow passengers to buy tickets on arrival and board any train right away.
The new plan would erase the need to purchase tickets in advance – but it comes with a risk: passengers would not be guaranteed a seat.
He said MTR Corp wanted to adopt the arrangement for the whole Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link.
“It’s mainly to relieve the mental stress for passengers,” he said. “They complaint of heavy pressure. When they take transportation to West Kowloon, there could be traffic congestion that could make them late.”

Under the proposal, Tien said passengers who bought the special tickets on site would need to stand for the journey unless they found a sea not pre-purchased by another passenger.
“The MTR’s proposals were sent to the China Railway Corporation. China Railway, in principle, would not have much reason to say no. I predict that this could happen this year,” he said.
Tien said a sticking point was that rules would need to be changed to allow travellers to stand on the trains, and that would need the mainland rail giant’s approval. He said the mainland side was worried there could be management problems if passengers argued over the seating issue.
“During the Lunar New Year, the national railway sold standing tickets. So if it doesn’t allow the high-speed railway to have standing passengers, it’s not valid,” he said, adding that the train journey was short.
I predict that this could happen this year
Michael Tien Puk-sun, a lawmaker and former railway boss
Officials estimated that the shortest travel time from West Kowloon Station to Futian was 14 minutes. For Shenzhen North and Guangzhou South, it was 19 minutes and 47 minutes, respectively.
A source familiar with the discussions said the two parties were negotiating the arrangement.
“There is not yet a time table on when to implement it,” the source said.
A MTR spokeswoman said the company was always seeking to improve its service because it operated the high-speed rail for more than six months, and that included making the high-speed railway like the MTR service.
The rail link was opened in September last year.
The spokeswoman said MTR still needed to work out the details of the new plan with the mainland operator.
On Friday, the West Kowloon Terminus was packed with travellers as Easter holidays began.
The Immigration Department estimated that around 6.1 million passengers, including local residents and visitors, would pass through local sea, land and air control points from April 18 to 22.
The department predicted that the number of outbound passengers would be at its highest on Friday with around 657,000 passengers leaving the city.


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Future of transport

Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link may smooth pre-ordering ticket procedures – if passengers can stand for it

Passengers queue up to buy advanced tickets at West Kowloon terminus. Photo: Sam Tsang

MTR Media Preview of Hong Kong West Kowloon Station Open Days in preparation of opening the High Speed Rail Terminus. Picture shows a ticket sample (a second class ticket from West Kowllon to Guangzhou). 01SEP18 SCMP / Felix Wong

News

Hong Kong

Transport

Passengers could buy tickets on arrival and board trains right away
But it comes with a risk: passengers would not be guaranteed a seat


Proposal would allow passengers to buy tickets on arrival and board trains right away – but they would need to stand for the journey.


MTR Corporation

Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link may smooth pre-ordering ticket procedures – if passengers can stand for it

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;}Passengers could buy tickets on arrival and board trains right away But it comes with a risk: passengers would not be guaranteed a seat

Passengers could buy tickets on arrival and board trains right away

But it comes with a risk: passengers would not be guaranteed a seat