HK's East Rail Line extension opens

Writer: Han Ximin  |  Editor: Holly Wang  |  From: Shenzhen Daily  |  Updated: 2022-05-16

The long-awaited Hong Kong East Rail Line cross-harbor extension commenced service yesterday, creating a direct transportation link between the three main regions of the New Territories, Kowloon and Hong Kong Island.

As the East Rail Line is connected with Shenzhen Metro Lines 1 and 4 via Lok Ma Chau/Futian and Lowu/Luohu checkpoints, Shenzhen travelers can take the East Rail Line to Hong Kong Island without interchanges, a release from HKMTR Shenzhen Company said yesterday.

The extension connects Hung Hom station in Kowloon with Admiralty station on the Hong Kong Island via the new Exhibition Center station, reducing rail journey between the two stations from 19 minutes to seven minutes. It offers interchange connections to five existing railway lines and provides new interconnectivity to create a more comprehensive railway network in the SAR.

As the fourth cross-harbor railway in Hong Kong, the 6-kilometer extension builds upon the century-old legacy of the East Rail Line, which has been in service since 1910.

At the opening ceremony Saturday for the new extension at Exhibition Center Station, Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam said the line will directly link the Harbour Metropolis, Hong Kong’s financial center and the Northern Metropolis, the science and innovation center that is now under planning and construction. In the long run, it will promote further integration between Shenzhen and Hong Kong.

In Lam’s policy address in October last year, she outlined five proposed projects including extending East Rail Line to Lowu Checkpoint to improve rail connectivity in the Northern Territories and cross-border connectivity with Shenzhen.

She also suggested building a new cross-border Hong Kong-Shenzhen Western Railway that will link Hung Shui Kiu to Qianhai in Shenzhen and extending the Northern Link, which is now being planned, northward to connect with the new Huanggang Checkpoint in Shenzhen via the Hong Kong-Shenzhen Innovation and Technology Park in the Lok Ma Chau Loop area.

The projects would complement the creation of the Northern Metropolis, a proposed city development that would improve connections with Shenzhen, she said.