Hi all,
I have to go to Hong Kong in a few weeks and I was thinking to do one way by taking high speed rail to Shenzhen. Does anyone have any experience with this? Is it easy to take subway from the high speed rail station in Shenzhen to the border crossing and then link into the MTR?
I would like to see the landscape and trains are nice for doing some reading or a bit of work...but if the process is a big hassle I'll skip and just fly straight to HK. Thanks for any thoughts.
I have no idea where the entry/exit pointss are for the respective stations but the bus service there is usually very good. I had to get from SZ airport to the Hong Kong/Macau ferry port and the distance made it look like it was going to be difficult but a public bus was available. Easy.
Dan, yes, it's very easy. You take the subway from the train station to the border, walk though immigration and customs, and the MTR is right on the other side.
It's easy but a long ride. You should be able to have a seat on the metro if you're quick. Personally, I find scenery on high speed rail not very worthwhile unless it's big like a lake or mountain range, as the speed isn't conducive to leisure viewing of the country side. That being said, if it's a route you've never been on, it's good enough to keep your interest, though whether you can get a window seat facing the right direction is problematic, and then when you do get one, you might end up giving it up so a family or some girlfriends can sit together when they politely ask you, or more likely have sat down in your seat before you.
Note, given the price of g trains and then the cost and effort of sz to hk city center vs a low cost flight, the flight might end up cheaper and less hassles especially if you have luggage. But if you've just got a backpack and the time, take the train there or back.
Last year I traveled from HK to KM via Shenzhen HSR. I enjoyed it, and it was very convenient (Hong Kong MTR, walk across the border, Shenzhen subway to high speed rail station). Scenery wasn’t great except for around Guilin (not all of the high speed rail lines you take will go this way), which was spectacular. I think the price is comparable to a cheap plane ticket, and takes longer, but I found it more comfortable. Worth trying at least once in my opinion.
This Sunday, the new high speed rail from Mainland to Hong Kong (vice versa) commences.
Adult fares in PDF:
www.highspeed.mtr.com.hk/res/pdf/hkd-implemented-fare-en.pdf
Destinations & travel time:
Futian (14 minutes)
Shenzhen North (23 minutes)
Guangzhou South (48 minutes)
Hangzhou (6 hours 45 minutes)
Shanghai (7 hours 45 minutes)
Beijing (8 hours 45 minutes)
