HK West Kowloon Station expands routes to mainland to enhance cross-border services

Train services between West Kowloon Station in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) and the mainland have been further expanded starting from Sunday, with the number of direct access stations increasing from 80 to 94.

Hong Kong West Kowloon Station on Sunday launched direct train services to Wuhan City of central China's Hubei Province, Xi'an City of northwest China's Shaanxi Province, Jieyang City and Shanwei City of south China's Guangdong Province for the first time, aiming to open up new opportunities for business, cultural exchanges, and tourism development between Hong Kong and the mainland.

"Our home is near Xi'an North Railway Station, and my daughter's home is near West Kowloon Station. With the opening of this train service, it's now much more convenient for us to meet. I'm very happy," said a passenger from Xi'an.

"I'm excited. We're taking this train from Hong Kong to Xi'an. It's the first train, and we arrived at the station very early," said a passenger from Hong Kong.

The trains bound for Hong Kong has been further increased, with the number of electric multiple unit (EMU) trains operating on the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong high-speed railway rising to 242, bringing the total number of trains to 254 under full capacity.

"With the continuous launch of cross-border trains to Hong Kong from various cities in the mainland, the passenger flow at West Kowloon Station has been steadily rising thanks to the favorable customs clearance mode of 'juxtaposed border control,' the new visa-free policy, and other convenience measures. In 2024, nearly 27 million people entered and exited West Kowloon Station, with the maximum daily passenger flow reaching 128,000. It's now common that daily passenger flow exceeds 100,000 during holidays," said Qian Binbin, vice-captain of No. 5 Team at West Kowloon Border Inspection Station.

HK West Kowloon Station expands routes to mainland to enhance cross-border services

A Long March-3B rocket successfully sent test satellite Shijian-25 into space Tuesday morning, marking China's first rocket launch in 2025.

The Long March-3B is China's first carrier rocket series to complete 100 launches, having served the construction of China's BeiDou Navigation Satellite System and China's lunar exploration program.

Mainly used to launch high-orbit spacecraft and satellites, the Long March-3B rockets will serve more than 10 major space missions this year, including asteroid exploration.

The Long March-3B rocket carrying the Shijian-25 test satellite blasted off at 04:00 Beijing Time from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China's Sichuan Province, bringing the payload into the preset orbit later.

The satellite is primarily used for the verification of satellite fuel replenishment and life extension service technologies, according to the Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology, the Shijian-25's developer.

The launch marked the 555th mission of the Long March series carrier rockets.

"The Tuesday launch is the first mission of China's Long March series carrier rockets in 2025. The relevant teams dedicated to this rocket model have taken more than 40 strict measures to make full-scale preparations and ensure a complete success of the launch mission," said Qin Yi, an official of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation.

Long March-3B rocket mission marks first launch of new year