Has cross-border high-speed rail created new pool of visitors to Hong Kong as ‘golden week’ arrivals jump 20 per cent?

Data shows traffic at major checkpoints largely unchanged over seven-day holiday, but visitor numbers rise to 1.5 million

For the week-long break, which started on National Day on October 1, on average about 73,000 commuters took the rail link each day. Photo: Dickson Lee
Hong Kong’s recently opened high-speed rail link had little impact on the number of people using other cross-border transport services over the “golden week” public holiday, while a 20 per cent jump in the number of mainland Chinese arrivals suggests it may have created a new pool of visitors.

But critics said the visitors were largely drawn by the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link’s newness and warned it would run into deficit if it failed to boost cross-border travel during low-turnout weekdays.

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