Thousands flock to XRL’s HK station

Huge crowds defied adverse weather conditions and jam-packed the West Kowloon terminus of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link (XRL) over the weekend for a first-hand look at the ultramodern facility just three weeks before its official opening.

About 20,000 visitors took advantage of the two open days on Saturday and Sunday, touring the station and the facilities at one of the world’s largest underground high-speed rail stations with a usable floor area of more than 400,000 square meters.

Admission tickets for the public were snapped up within two hours last week, with some having queued up overnight at the various ticket collection centers in the city.

The 26-kilometer Hong Kong section of the XRL, which will start operating on Sept 23, will connect the special administrative region with the 25,000-km-long national high-speed rail network — the world’s largest — linking the city with 44 stations in 38 destinations across the Chinese mainland.

The station’s design is expected to become one of the city’s landmarks, with its entrance made with about 8,000 tons of steel and 4,000 pieces of glazing panels in varying shapes and sizes.

The ticketing concourse was open to the public on the two open days, but the arrival and departure halls, immigration facilities and train platforms remained closed.

Dutch electronics engineer Jeroen Van Wanrooij, praised the clear signs displayed at the station, but regretted missing out on the chance to see the new trains.

He said visiting the mainland by traveling on the high-speed rail would be on his “to-do list” once the XRL opens in Hong Kong.

Nine-year-old visitor Timmy Tam said he was excited touring the terminus, which

Timmy Tam,

he found to be modern and spacious. He had never traveled on a high-speed train and said he wanted to take a ride to Guangzhou after the trains start running.

Grace Kwok visited the station with her seven-yearold son and parents. The 36-year-old social worker said she would take her family to Beijing on the XRL, a plan that has been long delayed as her parents are too old to fly.

The West Kowloon station will be linked up with the West Rail Line’s Austin Station and Tung Chung Line’s Kowloon Station by footbridges and subways.

Some of 39 ticket vending and redemption machines and 28 ticketing counters were also open to the visitors.

The machines accept both second-generation mainland resident identity cards and home return permits for Hong Kong and Macao residents. Taiwan residents and foreigners need to buy tickets at the ticketing counters.

The machines also accept Apple Pay, while the counters accept Wechat Pay and Alipay.