Beijing–Kowloon through train

Beijing–Kowloon through train
京九直通車
Beijing–Kowloon through train; 京九直通車
	Direction Board of Z97/98
Overview
Service type	Inter-city rail
Locale	Shanghai; Hong Kong SAR;
First service	18 May 1997; 26 years ago
Last service	30 January 2020; 4 years ago
Current operator(s)	CR Guangzhou
Route
Termini	Hung Hom; Beijing West
Technical
Track owner(s)	China Railway (China section); KCRC (Hong Kong section);

The Beijing–Kowloon through train (

MTRC of Hong Kong and China Railway, China's national rail service. The train ran to Beijing and Hong Kong every other day. Services used the East Rail line in Hong Kong, crossed the boundary between Hong Kong and mainland China at Lo Wu and then continued along China's railway network via the Guangshen railway and the Jingguang railway to Beijing. Total journey time was approximately 23 hours, and the train uses 25T class train carriages

.

From 28 December 2017, travellers of selected nationalities are able to utilise the 144-hour transit when travelling on this line to or from Beijing, providing that they clear immigration in Beijing.[1]

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the service had been suspended indefinitely since 30 January 2020. There is no plan to resume the service. After the resumption of train services suspended due to COVID-19, this series of train services will only retain the itinerary within mainland China (Beijing-Guangzhou) and will no longer operate the itinerary to Hong Kong.

Carriages

The train operated in two parts, where 11 carriages would depart Hong Kong (travelling under number T97B from Beijing and T98B from Hong Kong) with an additional 8 carriages added at Guangzhou East railway station (using number Z97A/Z98A), totalling 19 carriages. Along the route, trains stopped at Changsha, Wuhan and Zhengzhou, though only passengers travelling from Guangzhou might disembark due to customs and immigration reasons.

The Hong Kong to Beijing section of the train was divided into three distinct classes – hard sleeper, soft sleeper and luxury soft sleeper (catering only to two persons, with better furnishing and private lavatories). The Guangzhou to Beijing section of the train only had hard sleepers and hard seats.

Dining services were provided by the

Guangshen Railway Company. Passengers may choose to buy from carts which are pushed throughout the train at different intervals, or choose to dine in the dining car

. The dining car provided a selection of light refreshments, along with two sets of menus (one for breakfast, and one for lunch/dinner) providing a range of cooked, a la carte dishes.

Carriage number	1	2	3–5	6–9	10	11	12–15	16–17	18	19
Type of carriages	XL25T Baggage van (Chinese: 行李车)	YW25T Hard sleeper (Chinese: 硬卧车)	YW25T Hard Sleeper (Chinese: 硬卧车)	RW25T Soft sleeper (Chinese: 软卧车)	RW19T Luxury Soft Sleeper (Chinese: 高级包厢软卧车)	CA25T Dining car (Chinese: 餐车)	YW25T Hard Sleeper	YZ25T Hard seat (Chinese: 硬座车)	YW25T Hard Sleeper	UZ25T postal car (Chinese: 邮政车)
Notes	Carriages No. 1–11 go to Hong Kong (Z97B/98B)						Carriages No.12-19 only serve passengers taking Z97A/98A

RW_19TLuxury soft sleeper carriage
Interior of a luxury soft sleeper cabin
Another view of the interior of a luxury soft sleeper cabin

Locomotives

The train changed locomotives once on the way.

Sections	Kowloon－Guangzhou East	Guangzhou East－Wuchang－Beijing West
Locomotives and their allocation	Guangzhou Railway Group Guangzhou Depot (Chinese: 广铁广段)	Beijing Railway Bureau Beijing Depot (Chinese: 京局京段)

Operation

Ticketing

Beijing-bound passengers from Hong Kong could order tickets from an online reservation system operated by the MTR Corporation. The system was limited to the one-way, Hong Kong to Beijing trips only.^[2] Ordering of tickets required extensive registration, including a credit card number, and tickets could only be delivered in the Hong Kong SAR, which made it impossible for most non-HK resident customers to order. Travellers for Beijing may purchase northbound tickets at a dedicated counter at Hung Hom station, whilst southbound tickets from Beijing to Hong Kong coild only be purchased in Beijing or from travel agencies.

Service

Passengers departing from or arriving at Hong Kong could embark or disembark from platforms 5 or 6 of Hung Hom Station, which was restricted to intercity operations. Prior to boarding, passengers must go through Hong Kong immigration counters and cannot exit the restricted area.

The platform area for the Kowloon section of train Z97 in Beijing West railway station is temporarily designated as boundary restricted area and guarded by police before departure.

Trains used platform 1 of Beijing West railway station, which was connected to the check hall for this particular through train service. Passengers coming from or going to Hong Kong clear Chinese immigration and customs in the hall. The part of the platform between the hall and the passenger cars for Hong Kong is cordoned off by police.^[clarify]

Trains operate from either terminating stations on an alternate schedule, under the following timetable:^[3]

Effective from 15 May 2016
Z97		Stops	Z98
Arrive	Depart	Stops	Arrive	Depart
—	12:40	Beijing West	15:30	—
18:25	18:31	Zhengzhou	09:37	09:44
23:05	23:11	Wuchang	04:56	05:02
02:26	02:32	Changsha	01:29	01:35
10:01	11:04	Guangzhou East	17:16	18:06
13:01	—	Hung Hom	—	15:15

References

^ "Explanations of 144-hour Transit Policy for Nationals of Certain Countries". Chinese Ministry of Public Security. Archived from the original on 31 January 2019. Retrieved 31 January 2018.
^ MTR ticketing information (Note 1 under "Beijing–Kowloon through train")
^ Official timetable

External links

MTRC intercity passenger services

[1] "Explanations of 144-hour Transit Policy for Nationals of Certain Countries". Chinese Ministry of Public Security. Archived from the original on 31 January 2019. Retrieved 31 January 2018.

[2] MTR ticketing information (Note 1 under "Beijing–Kowloon through train")

[3] Official timetable

[2]

[3]