What changes are happening on the first day of Hong Kong’s high-speed rail resumption?Immersive experience report of journalists from the Financial Associated Press
Financial Associated Press, January 15th (Reporter Cheng Mengqi)When he heard that the destination was the West Kowloon High Speed Rail Station, the taxi driver couldn’t help but “wow”, and then said, “I haven’t been there for three years.”
As fresh and exciting as the taxi drivers, there are also a large number of Hong Kong citizens gathered at the high-speed rail station. However, in their excitement, there was still a little confusion. People who were about to take the high-speed rail surrounded the on-site staff, confirming various problems over and over again, such as: “The flight (ticket) to Shenzhen North can’t be bought, buy a ticket.” Futian can do it?” “Take the high-speed rail to fly? You can enter the gate even if you can fly?”; “How to get the ticket? Why can I take the car without picking up the ticket?” “What’s the customs declaration? Click to scan the code to declare Huh? I don’t know how to count?” (What is customs declaration? How to scan the QR code to declare? What should I do if I don’t know how to declare?)
The flow of people in front of manual windows and self-service ticket machines
The West Kowloon High Speed Rail Station has been closed for three years and is opening to traffic on the first day
Today is January 15, and it is also the first day after the West Kowloon High Speed Rail Station was shut down for three years. Northbound tickets are on sale at the West Kowloon High Speed Rail Station and the 12306 official website three days in advance. The long queues at the West Kowloon High Speed Rail Station have never dissipated during these three days, and the first day of opening is even more crowded.
The first high-speed train G5624 to Shenzhen departed at 7:03. When it was still dark, passengers lined up at the high-speed rail station. The first high-speed train from Shenzhen North to West Kowloon arrived at 7:42. The staff of the West Kowloon High-Speed Railway greeted returning passengers at the arrival exit and distributed gift bags including masks and other items.
Ms. Gao, who came from Shenzhen to Hong Kong at the arrival entrance of the West Kowloon High Speed Rail Station, received the gift and said she liked the orange theme color of the West Kowloon High Speed Rail. , The 15th is the last concert held, and by the way, experience the opening of the high-speed rail.
Employees of the high-speed rail station wearing orange masks. The West Kowloon high-speed rail station was very lively after the resumption of traffic. With the arrival of noon, it was pushed to a climax. Form a long queue. Passengers who bought tickets on the spot found that almost all the tickets for the trains on that day were sold out, and some had no choice but to turn around and go to ports such as Lok Ma Chau and Shenzhen Bay. The reporter searched in front of the self-service ticket vending machine and found that even 3 days later, on the morning of January 18, all the tickets to Shenzhen were sold out.
Because the entire line of the high-speed rail uses ID cards to ride, Hong Kong citizens who are accustomed to paper tickets have repeatedly asked the staff whether they can enter the station without a ticket, and the staff finally found out after answering this question hundreds of times. The most sincere and effective way of communication, “Trust me! Use the other ID to buy a flight, and then swipe the other ID to enter the gate. The rest is for reimbursement, and you will not be able to enter the gate.” (Please believe me, You can enter the gate by swiping whichever certificate you use to buy a ticket. These machines are for reimbursement vouchers, and you cannot enter the gate by swiping the reimbursement voucher.)
After the experience of taking the high-speed rail without a ticket, Hong Kong tourists once again discovered something new and interesting at the customs. That is the WeChat mini program “Customs Passenger Fingertip Service”. Scan the QR code on WeChat to fill in the “Entry and Exit Health Declaration” to obtain the customs black code, and then scan the black code on the code scanning machine between the two customs before entering the country. Many passengers feel panic because they do not have WeChat or are not familiar with the scanning process, but the customs staff are obviously well prepared, and any passengers who have doubts can get timely help.
After three years of silence, what does the West Kowloon High Speed Rail station look like?
The Hong Kong section of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link opened on September 23, 2018. The epidemic caused the Hong Kong Express Rail Link, which has been in operation for a year and a half, to be suspended. On January 30, 2020, the Hong Kong section of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong High Speed Rail was suspended, and the West Kowloon High Speed Rail Station was temporarily closed. On the same day, the six ports connecting Shenzhen and Hong Kong and the Hung Hom Railway Station were also closed.
Three years later, the West Kowloon High Speed Rail Station opened its doors again, welcoming passengers from the two places. Although there was an endless flow of people arriving and departing, the reporter found that many shops and restaurants were not open on the first day of resumption of operation, and the food court was empty. , “Hua Yujie” and other fast food sales stores have been properly decorated but have not sold food. In terms of retail business, there are Mannings, 7-11, Sasa, Snacks and other stores, but the sales were not brisk on the first day of opening, and there were not many tourists who came to shop.
Ms. Tan, who went back to Shenzhen to visit relatives, told reporters that she had prepared gifts for relatives and friends in the Mainland since the beginning of this year when she had the definite news of customs clearance. She hadn’t been back for three years and she missed her relatives in the Mainland very much, so she didn’t expect to shop at the high-speed rail station.
West Kowloon High Speed Rail Station is located at the intersection of Tuen Ma Line, Airport Express Line, Tung Chung Line, and Disney Line. There are passages connecting large commercial complexes such as Elements and China Hong Kong City. Arriving passengers and seeing off people quickly dissipate on the high-speed rail The entrance and exit of the station extend in all directions.
The high-speed rail waiting room needs to go through two customs, which makes the West Kowloon high-speed rail station different from all high-speed rail stations in the mainland. The G5801 train that the reporter took departed at 14:39, and when he entered the station at 14:09 with his ID card, he was told by the staff that if he missed the boarding time, he would need to buy a new ticket. After being reminded and inspected by the black code of the customs, after exiting the Hong Kong border and entering the Shenzhen border and other four procedures, I arrived at the ticket gate at 14:22, and the ticket inspection had not yet started. However, if you do not use the self-service customs clearance gate and have not used the customs declaration mini-program, you must allow enough time for customs clearance.
The passenger occupancy rate at the first station of the high-speed rail is not high. Although all the high-speed rail tickets departing from Hong Kong on the first day have been sold out, the reporter saw that the occupancy rate at the first station is not high. Both first-class and second-class cars are occupied by only one-fifth of the passengers. There are only one passenger, but there is no one in the first-class car. At the Futian station where the reporter got off, there were still many passengers getting on the train and continuing towards Guangzhou.
Futian Station welcomes passengers arriving from Hong Kong
The streets of Hong Kong on the last weekend before the Spring Festival
When the high-speed rail resumed, it coincided with the last weekend before the Spring Festival. The reporter heard similar sentiments from many Hong Kong people: “Hong Kong has not been so lively for a long time.” “It seems to be back before the epidemic.” “Today, people in Hong Kong They all came to Causeway Bay.”
This weekend, the streets of Mong Kok, Tsim Sha Tsui, and Causeway Bay were crowded with crowds; many shopping malls extended their business hours, and people were still picking clothes and queuing up to pay at 11:00 p.m. in half.
The Chinese New Year installations for the Year of the Rabbit on the Central Waterfront and Victoria Park are waiting for the final unveiling; hotel prices in Hong Kong, which have been at a low level for a long time, have begun to rise sharply; concerts by Eason Chan and Blackpink are held at Red Hall and Asia Pacific. The reopening of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong high-speed rail has added icing on the cake to the excitement of Hong Kong. Some people can’t wait to travel between the two places, while others are waiting for further relaxation of customs clearance conditions, such as canceling the 48-hour nucleic acid test or opening self-service visas for travel to Hong Kong.
Mr. Leung, a Hong Kong resident, told reporters, “In the three years of the epidemic, only two quick tests have been done. I look forward to going to Shenzhen again after canceling the 48-hour nucleic acid test.”