The beginning

The 142-km line is part of the country's first medium-and long-term railway network plan, which was approved by the State Council, China's Cabinet, in early 2004. The blueprint proposed the construction of four north-south and four east-west passenger lines extending for more than 12,000 km nationwide.

Construction of the first section of the XRL, from Guangzhou South to Shenzhen North, began in December 2005, and the line was officially opened at the end of 2011. The second section, from Shenzhen North to Futian in Shenzhen's Central Business District, opened in December 2015.

Construction of the final section from Hong Kong started in January 2010.

Before the XRL reached Hong Kong, 30 percent of the 10,000 mainland travelers who visited the city each day arrived at the high-speed rail terminus in Shenzhen, and transferred to the local subway or cross-boundary coaches to get to Hong Kong through Futian or Luohu districts.

But the launch of the Hong Kong section and the joint checkpoint arrangement at West Kowloon Station have made cross-boundary journeys much easier.

The so-called co-location arrangement designates 25 percent of the rail terminus in Hong Kong as a Mainland Port Area, where national laws apply. This allows people leaving or arriving in Hong Kong by high-speed rail to complete both mainland and Hong Kong customs and immigration checks at West Kowloon Station.