China, Hong Kong Resume Rail Service

China on Sunday resumed rail services with Hong Kong and the mainland for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic.

Operations at West Kowloon station in the global financial hub have been smooth, with a flow of about 1,400 passengers, said Cheung Chi-keung, head of operator MTR Corp’s cross-boundary operations.

Tickets for nearly all trains were sold out on Sunday, a display at the station also showed.

Some passengers voiced excitement and relief about the rail service.

Mang Lee at Hong Kong’s West Kowloon station said; “The resumption of the high-speed railway has made it very convenient for us and has brought us closer to home.

“For the past three years, due to the pandemic, it has not been easy to enter China in any way.

"I have not been able to go home for a long time.”

This comes amid China’s pandemic seeing huge increase of infections and following last month’s historic protests from citizens over the country’s COVID-19 restrictions.