The Xiongan New Area 100 kilometers south of Beijing, which was established by China's central government as an exemplary model city, will be connected directly to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region by high-speed train starting from Wednesday, chinanews.com reported.
The Beijing Railway Administration (BRA) announced new operation plans over the weekend, including a direct high-speed train service from North China's Tianjin West to Hong Kong West Kowloon, with a stopover at Baiyangdian Station, center of the Xiongan New Area.
It means that people in Xiongan will be able to take a high-speed train directly to Hong Kong. Previously, they had to travel to Beijing or Tianjin first.
Xiongan New Area, located in North China's Hebei Province, spans three counties - Rongcheng, Anxin and Xiongxian.
The new train starts from Tianjin West station and then runs through Hebei, Central China's Henan, Hubei and Hunan provinces and South China's Guangdong Province, ending in Hong Kong.
The BRA did not specify how frequent the service will be.
The line connects the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region and Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. With this additional service, Hong Kong can be reached directly from 58 train stations in the Chinese mainland.
China announced plans in 2017 to establish the Xiongan New Area. The construction of the Xiongan New Area is also described as part of China's "millennium strategy" to advance coordinated development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region.
