Cross-boundary rail connectivity will take another step forward next week when daily trains between Hong Kong West Kowloon Station and Zhanjiangxi begin stopping at Taishan, Guang-dong. The Transport Department announced the timetable change on 8 October after coordinating with mainland railway authorities; tickets for the revised G6048/5 and G6046/7 services are already on sale through the 12306 platform and at West Kowloon Station. The new intermediate stop gives Hong Kong travellers direct high-speed-rail access to Taishan, a manufacturing hub renowned for lighting and household-goods supply chains. Business chambers say the convenience will slash door-to-door journey times by up to two hours compared with the current rail-plus-coach combination and could spur same-day trips for factory audits and buyer visits. From a tourism perspective, Taishan’s UNESCO-listed Diaolou watch-towers are expected to attract weekend trippers, adding to Hong Kong’s Greater Bay Area excursion options. The adjustment also dovetails with plans to launch “seamless” joint-immigration clearance at other border crossings such as Huanggang, underscoring an era of finer-grained network optimisation rather than big-bang route launches. Corporate travel managers should update approved-routes lists and negotiate new corporate fares before demand ramps up. Logistics firms may capture fresh opportunities in cross-border e-commerce shipments routed through Taishan’s warehousing parks. Additional temporary trains have been scheduled for popular short-haul segments like Futian-Hong Kong and Shenzhenbei-Hong Kong to meet post-Golden-Week demand, but seats on Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong services remain tight during peak weekends, the Transport Department warned.
Source: Hong Kong Transport Department
