Cross-border express link (Hong Kong <=> Guangzhou)
It is now costing a whopping HK$ 65.2 billion to build the cross-border express link from Hong Kong to Guangzhou. This house is of the opinion that the concept of a high-speed express link between Hong Kong and Guangzhou is exceptional and very much a move in the right direction. However, this house wishes to throw a spanner in the works and ask the obvious question : Where will the proposed station open in Guangzhou?
To those who have been following the case, the proposed station will open in a place called Shibi (石壁); for those who have heard of this place and have even tried going there, will know that it is a long and arduous journey from the city centre of Guangzhou. It is a 30- minute bus ride from Shibi to Dashi (大石) which is the closest tube stop and from Dashi to city centre of Guangzhou it is another 30 minutes by tube. I personally made this trip and timed it - it took 65 minutes from the Matyr’s Park Station (烈士陵园站) to get to Shibi and is associated with the inconvenience of going up and down escalators, waiting on the platform and waiting for the bus.
The express link will be a 48-minute journey from West Kowloon to Shibi and then another 65 minutes to Guangzhou’s city centre - the total time is just under 2 hours which incidentally is the same journey time that is currently achieved by the Hung Hom Station to Guangzhou’s East Station which offers the added convenience to the traveller of a direct train ride into city centre with no transfers.
This house believes that the station where the train will arrive at in Guangzhou should moved to the city centre or at least somewhere very close to the city centre otherwise its value add will be marginal and the project should be scrapped.
Tags: express, Express Rail, fast, guangzhou, GZH, HKG, hong kong, link, train, 廣深港, 高鐵
November 2nd, 2009 at 2:02 am
I agree with the post.
As an owner of a Small Medium-sized Enterprise (SME) with offices in Hong Kong and Guangzhou, I commute between these two locations regularly either by coach (from Wanchai to Garden Hotel) or by train (from Hung Hom station to Guangzhou’s East Station). Both commutes are slightly over 3 hours door-to-door on normal days.
I too have been following with great interest the new through-train from West Kowloon to Guangzhou which promises a 48-minute commute which I have been awaiting with great expectation since it holds great promise in cutting my travel time. However, upon further consideration I deduced that the total travel time would not improve upon my current travel time at all. It would take 30 minutes to get to West Kowloon from our Wanchai office then 48 minutes to Shibi (Panyu / Guanghzhou) and then another 60 minutes at least to get to Garden Hotel. When you take into account the waiting time incurred during transfers, the total journey time will still be about 3 hours door-to-door including 3 transfers, not to mention the hassle factor associated with switching between transport systems 3 times during the journey and having to incur higher travelling costs.
January 11th, 2010 at 6:37 pm
Hong Kong DOES need a new rail system to Guangzhou BUT:-
(1) The cost is way too high and we need to bring it down a lot - if one construction company cannot do it; the government uses another one. The government needs to negotiate properly in the interest of the people and be transparent - NOT like Disney world; NOT like Cyberport; NOT like Harbourfest….
(2) The China terminal needs to be moved to a more sensible location. Putting the station in Shibi is like putting the station in FoShan. The terminal needs to be more centrally located. If we can put the station in somewhere as central as West Kowloon we can put it somewhere as central in Guangzhou.
Based on the current plan as of 11 January, 2010 - NO WAY Donald Tsang!