China News Service, Shenzhen, September 4th. Title: The Beijing-Kowloon Railway has been completed for 30 years. Shenzhen Station: Connecting Shenzhen and Hong Kong to Warm Twin Cities.
China News Service reporter Suo Youwei
In 1996, the entire Beijing-Kowloon Railway was completed. This steel artery running from north to south has more closely connected Hong Kong with the mainland. As the southern terminus of the Beijing-Kowloon Railway in the mainland, Shenzhen Station has become the first stop for countless Hong Kong compatriots traveling north to visit relatives and invest in business. It is also the starting point for mainland workers and business people to pursue their dreams south. Nowadays, this station is taking a brand-new attitude, supporting the integration of Shenzhen and Hong Kong’s “half-hour living circle” and the integrated development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, and building an “emotional bridge” for economic and cultural exchanges between Shenzhen and Hong Kong.
Dare to be the first, technological innovation has repeatedly created "firsts" in the whole road
Today's Shenzhen Station is where general speed, intercity and high-speed railways meet. The century-old station is full of new vitality. Through the Guangzhou-Shenzhen Railway connecting to the Gansu-Shenzhen High-speed Railway, Shenzhen Station has been successfully integrated into the national high-speed railway network. Starting from Shenzhen Station, passengers can easily access cities outside the province such as Shanghai, Nanjing, Nanchang, Wuhan, and Hefei, as well as within the province such as Guangzhou, Huizhou, Shantou, Jieyang, Meizhou, and Zhanjiang. There are 80 high-speed trains and 146 regular-speed and intercity trains operating daily, and the radiation range is constantly expanding.
After the Beijing-Kowloon Railway is fully completed, the passenger flow and cross-border service demand shouldered by Shenzhen Station have increased exponentially. Shenzhen Station took the lead in introducing emerging technologies into the entire passenger service chain, setting a number of "firsts" across the railway in areas such as ticket sales, ticket checking, and guidance disclosures, providing pioneering experience for China's smart railway transformation.
In December 1998, Shenzhen Station introduced the first automatic ticket vending machine on the entire railway, and it passed the technical appraisal of the Ministry of Railways. This equipment has been continuously developed and developed under the leadership of the Ministry of Railways. After more than ten years of iterative improvement, it has been widely used in major passenger stations along the road. In 2005, Shenzhen Station made two breakthroughs: on October 1, the telephone booking system was successfully tested for the first time. The following year, the Spring Festival Transport was fully put into use in Shenzhen, marking the first time for electronic ticketing on the whole road. In the same year, the Guangzhou-Shenzhen intercity "transit-based" automatic ticketing system for EMUs was also officially launched, realizing efficient organization for intercity passengers to quickly enter and leave the station. In May 2006, Shenzhen Station was the first to use liquid crystal display units, plasma displays, pixel-sharing full-color displays and other leading passenger electronic guidance display systems on the entire route, which greatly improved the clarity and intelligence of information guidance in the station...
Looking back on the development of the Beijing-Kowloon Railway in recent years, station attendant Guo Hanming, who has worked at Shenzhen Station for more than 40 years, said: "From steam locomotives to diesel locomotives, from electric locomotives to EMUs and then to high-speed rail, from less than 40 trains a day to 226 now, I have caught up with every era of railway development in my life. Watching Shenzhen Station getting better and better, I feel very proud."
Shenzhen-Hong Kong "half-hour living circle" accelerates to take shape
Relying on the seamless connection between the Guangzhou-Shenzhen Intercity Railway and Luo Wu Port, Shenzhen Station continues to play a key role as the "first stop" for Shenzhen-Hong Kong land cross-border passenger flow. After exiting Shenzhen Station, passengers can enter the Hong Kong East Rail network by walking through Luo Wu Port. They can reach core areas such as Kowloon Tong and Hung Hom within half an hour. The "half-hour living circle" between Shenzhen and Hong Kong forms the most direct and convenient land passage here. At the same time, Shenzhen Station is interconnected with the Gansu-Shenzhen High-speed Railway via the Guangzhou-Shenzhen Railway. Passengers can access the national high-speed rail network after arriving at Guangzhou East Railway Station, Zhongkai Station and other stations via the Guangzhou-Shenzhen Railway.
On January 10, 2022, the first G-prefixed high-speed train was launched at Shenzhen Station, officially entering the high-speed rail era and becoming the intersection node of multiple trunk lines such as the Guangzhou-Shenzhen Intercity, Gansu-Shenzhen Line, and Beijing-Kowloon Line. Together with Luohu Port, it forms one of the land routes with the densest flow of people in the Greater Bay Area. Every weekend and holiday, cross-border passenger flow peaks at Shenzhen Station and Luohu Port. Travel driven by the holiday economy, such as leisure and entertainment, cross-city consumption, visiting relatives and friends, etc., has become the main driving force for passenger flow growth. Data shows that the cumulative number of passengers arriving and departing from Shenzhen Station in 2025 will reach 20.241 million, of which a considerable proportion are cross-border passengers traveling to and from Shenzhen and Hong Kong via Luohu Port.
Huang Bo, a retired teacher from Hong Kong, and his wife, who had just returned from a trip to Ganzhou, were charging their mobile phones in the waiting hall of Shenzhen Station while looking through photos of the trip. "Now Shenzhen Station is directly connected to the high-speed rail, and the high-speed rail station is right outside Luohu Port. We went to Heyuan last month and Ganzhou this month. We left Hong Kong in the morning, and we can eat local food in other places at noon."
Li Yu, the passenger transport director who has worked at Shenzhen Station for more than 40 years, said: "Some Hong Kong passengers used Beijing-Kowloon to visit relatives in the mainland when they were young. Now they come to Shenzhen with their children. Sometimes they go to the station to say hello to me. This kind of cross-generational trust and affection is the most precious reward of this job."
Quality service makes travel more comfortable
Since 2023, the station has completed the optimization of the entry flow line, integrating Guangzhou-Shenzhen intercity, regular speed, and high-speed rail passengers into the same entrance, and upgraded security check and gate equipment. The average passing capacity of the entrance has reached 200 people per minute, making it possible to pass smoothly even during peak passenger hours. The waiting hall has been equipped with free charging areas, maternal and child rooms and other convenient facilities to make passengers travel more comfortable.
Along with the hardware upgrade, the service quality of the Shenzhen station has also been continuously improved. Over the past year, the "Spring Festival" service brand of Shenzhen Station has focused on the needs of special groups, assisted a total of 10,700 key passengers, and conveyed the warmth of the city with meticulous care. As the 2025 National Post-Study Lei Feng Model, the service team has implemented the "Four Links" (railway link, Shenzhen-Hong Kong link, Cantonese link, and English link) services to ensure barrier-free communication for cross-border passengers. Among them, "Love Notes" are launched for elderly passengers to help bridge the "digital divide"; a "Convenience Treasure Box" is set up to solve passengers' minor troubles during their journey at any time.
Aunt Liu, who takes the intercity bus from Shenzhen Station to Dongguan every week to visit her grandson, is now an "old acquaintance" of the station. She said: "Last time I was dragging a big bag, and when I was approaching the ticket gate, I found that the zipper collapsed and the things were scattered all over the floor. I was so anxious that I was sweating. When the girl at the service desk saw it, she immediately took out the transparent tape and zip ties and helped me wrap the inner and outer layers tightly. She was afraid that it would be inconvenient for me to carry it, so she tied a simple handle."
On the platform, the Guangzhou-Shenzhen Intercity Railway, the Gansu-Shenzhen High-speed Railway and the Beijing-Kowloon Express Line meet here; in the waiting hall, the laughter of Hong Kong families and the satisfied smiles of the mainland elderly blend with each other - this is the truest temperature of "Twin Cities Life" and the best gift that the Beijing-Kowloon Railway has given to the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area in the past 30 years.
