Hong Kong high-speed train starts trial operations

Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam, left, and chairman of the MTR Corporation Frederick Ma attend the Main Works Completion Ceremony of the Express Rail Link Hong Kong section in West Kowloon terminus of Hong Kong, Friday, March 23, 2018. [Photo: VCG]

The Hong Kong section of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link (XRL) has started trial operations on April 1, 2018, reports the Changjiang Daily.

Through the new rail link, which will be connected to the 25,000 kilometer national high-speed rail network, a total of 16 Chinese mainland cities, including Beijing, Shanghai and Wuhan, will have express trains to Hong Kong, according to the report.

The XRL is 142 kilometers in total, including 116 kilometers on the Chinese mainland and 26 kilometers in Hong Kong.

There are two stations in Hong Kong, including the terminus and Kowloon West.

The train will run at speeds of 200 kilometers per hour.

From Hong Kong, it will take about 23 minutes to get to Shenzhen and about 48 minutes to get to Guangzhou, when completed sometime in the 3rd quarter of 2018.

China's new generation Fuxing bullet trains will be run on the XRL.