Hong Kong's high-speed rail link carried a record 30 million trips in 2025 — up 17% — with West Kowloon now wired directly into 113 mainland cities. Underneath, the MTR moves 4.78 million people a day: the densest rail dependence in this series.
The Guangzhou–Shenzhen–Hong Kong Express Rail Link carried a record 30 million trips in 2025, up 17%, passing 100 million cumulative journeys since 2018. West Kowloon Station set its single-day record on December 27 — nearly 140,000 trips — and now connects directly to 113 mainland destinations, from Futian (five-minute peak intervals) to Chengdu, Zhangjiajie and Xi'an.
The passenger mix is shifting: Hong Kong residents now make up ~45% of riders, up from 30% at launch — the link has become a two-way commute, not just an arrival hall. Short-haul trips account for about 80% of journeys.
Underneath the cross-border layer, the MTR proper — nine local lines, the Airport Express and the light rail across 271 km and 99 stations — carried an average of 4.78 million passengers a day in 2025, about 44% of all public transport trips in the city. It is the densest rail dependence of any metropolis in this series.
In Hong Kong the border is a station. West Kowloon puts the mainland market directly into Tsim Sha Tsui's hotel district — which is why the world's largest Kimpton opened an MTR stop away and Kowloon East is converting industrial stock into rooms. Rail is not access here; it is the demand source itself.
Subscribe to the digest and receive key market signals every two weeks.