New high-speed railway to directly link Xiamen and Hong Kong

Residents in Xiamen, Fujian province are now expecting to travel directly to Hong Kong on high-speed trains, without bothering to make a transfer in Shenzhen, Guangdong province in 2018.

The Hong Kong Section of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong High-speed Railway is expected to be put into operation in the third season of 2018, according to Chan Fan, Secretary of the Transport and Housing Bureau of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

The section will start from the West Kowloon Terminus and stop at the boundary of Shenzhen and Hong Kong's Lok Ma Chau, extending approximately 26 kilometers.

It's estimated that it will take passengers four hours and 250 yuan ($39) to travel from Xiamen to Hong Kong by train. Immigration checkpoint will be set up inside the West Kowloon Terminus, where passengers from both sides can complete border clearance procedures.

According to the website of the Transport and Housing Bureau, the railway link will boost exchanges in tourism, commerce, professional services, education and culture between cities on the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong.