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The Guangzhou–Kowloon through train (simplified Chinese: 广九直通车 or 港穗直通车; traditional Chinese: 廣九直通車 or 港穗直通車; pinyin: Guǎngjiǔ Zhítōngchē or Găngsuì Zhítōngchē) is an inter-city railway service between Hong Kong and Guangzhou jointly operated by the MTR Corporation of Hong Kong and the Guangzhou Railway Group of mainland China. Services operate along the East Rail line within Hong Kong territory, crossing the Hong Kong–Chinese border at Lo Wu, and continuing along the Guangmao Railway and Guangshen Railway in Guangdong province.

Guangzhou–Kowloon through train 廣九直通車
A KTT train provided by Hong Kong's MTR Corporation
Overview
Service type	Inter-city rail
Locale	Guangdong province Hong Kong SAR
First service	5 October 1911 (1911-10-05)
Current operator(s)	MTR Corporation CR Guangzhou
Route
Termini	Foshan Hung Hom
Technical
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in)
Electrification	25 kV 50 Hz Overhead catenary
Track owner(s)	China Railway (China section) KCRC (Hong Kong section)
Route map Legend Zhaoqing Foshan Guangzhou East Changping Guangdong, China Hong Kong Kowloon (Hung Hom)

Until the suspension of service in early 2020 amidst the coronavirus pandemic twelve trains ran in each direction every day, with a journey time of 1 hour 40 minutes.[1]

The MTRC operates the KTT service on this route. The KTT service is provided by double decker trains, usually comprising two Premium Class carriages and five First Class carriages. China Railway Guangzhou Group provides the other trains on this route.

Places served by the MTR Guangzhou–Kowloon Through Train include: Hong Kong, Dongguan, Guangzhou.

History

Early years

The original line of the Chinese section was called Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation (KCR)^{[citation needed]} and the British section was called Kowloon–Canton Railway (KCR), which later stretched a rapid transit network in the other New Territories regions in Hong Kong. The engineering partnership Messrs Arthur John Barry and John Wolfe-Barry were Consulting Engineers to the project.[2]

The segment within Hong Kong, then a British Crown colony, was known as the British section. Construction began in 1906, and it was opened on 1 October 1910 [3] as a single-track system, roughly corresponding to the present-day East Rail line).

The complete railway between Kowloon in Hong Kong and the Chinese city of Canton (Guangzhou) was opened on 5 October 1911.[4] With the Chinese section opened in 1911, through-trains ran from the southern terminus in Tsim Sha Tsui across the border to the southern Chinese city of Canton. Trains were steam-hauled. From the one-line railroad, the KCR network was expanded to three railway lines and a light railway system, with 32 railway stations and 68 light rail stations.

At first trains on the British Section ran northwards from a temporary terminus at Kowloon Point through the eastern New Territories up to the border with China at Lo Wu. The permanent southern terminus, Kowloon station in Tsim Sha Tsui, opened slightly later in 1914.

A narrow gauge railway operating works trains was used in the construction of the standard gauge British Section. ^{[citation needed]} The narrow gauge materials were later used to build the now-defunct Sha Tau Kok Railway.

Communist era

After the Chinese civil war and the victory of the Communists in mainland China in 1949, through-trains were no longer able to cross the border.

On 4 April 1979, the through train service between Canton (Guangzhou) and Kowloon (Hung Hom) resumed after agreement between Hong Kong and Chinese authorities. In January 1993, the service was extended to Foshan, and to Zhaoqing on 28 March 1995. Starting from 8 October 1995, some trains stopped at Changping station in Dongguan. In 1996, northern terminus was relocated from Guangzhou railway station to Guangzhou East station.

Train service to Zhaoqing ended on 16 April 2017 due to renovation. Service to Foshan also stopped from 10 July 2019 following the opening of Guangzhou–Shenzhen–Hong Kong Express Rail Link. Both border crossings closed on 15 December 2021, ruling out any return of the through train service to the two cities.

Through train service was completely shut down on 28 January 2020 due to the outbreak of COVID-19 in Hong Kong.[5] Sources in April 2022 said the train service will not resume as Express Rail Link service will reach the Guangzhou East station, therefore ending the century-long history of the through train service.[6]

Stations

Historic stations

The following shows the stations served by the through train in 1911 upon the commencement of service.[7] Most of them became stops of Guangzhou–Shenzhen railway. The through train service was suspended on 14 October 1949 after communists occupied Canton.

During this period, the through train service included new stops, such as in Tin Ho (天河), Wan Luk (雲麓), Sheung Shui (上水).

Name		District	Opened in	Closed in
English	Chinese
Canton also Tai Sha Tau	廣九／大沙頭	Canton, Kwangtung	1911	1974
Shek Pai	石牌		1911	–
Che Pi	車陂	Punyu, Kwangtung	1911	–
Wu Chung	烏涌		1911	–
Nam Kong	南崗		1911	2009
Sun Tong	新塘	Tsengshing County, Kwangtung	1911
Tong Mei	塘美		1911	2007
Nga Yeo	雅瑤		1911	?
Sien Tsun	仙村		1911	–
Shek Ha	石廈		1911	?
Shek Tan	石灘		1911	–
Shek Lik Kou	石瀝滘		1911	–
Shek Lung	石龍	Tungkun County, Kwangtung	1911	–
Sai Wu also Cha Shan	西湖／茶山		1911	–
Nam Sheh	南社		1911	2007
Wang Lik	橫瀝		1911	2009
Sheung Ping & Muk Lun also Sheung Ping	常平木倫		1911	–
Tu Tong	土塘		1911	–
Cheung Muk Tou & Shek Ma also Cheung Muk Tou	樟木頭石馬		1911	–
Lum Tsun	林村		1911	2010
Tong Tou Ha	塘頭廈		1911	–
Shek Ku	石鼓		1911	2007
Tin Tong Wai	天堂圍		1911	2007
Ping Wu	平湖	Sun On County, Kwangtung	1911	–
Li Long	李朗		1911	2007
Pu Kut	布吉		1911	–
Shum Chun also Sham Chun Market	深圳／深圳墟		1911	–
↑ Chinese section | British section ↓
Fan Ling also Fanling	粉嶺	New Territories, Hong Kong	1911	–
Tai Po Market	大埔墟		1911	1983
Tai Po later Tai Po Kau	大埔／大埔滘		1911	1983
Sha Tin also Shatin	沙田		1911	–
Yaumati	油麻地	Kowloon, Hong Kong	1911	–
Hung Hom	紅磡		1911	1930/40s
Kowloon	九龍		1911	1975

Modern service

Name		District	Service
English	Chinese		Started in	Ended in
Zhaoqing	肇慶	Zhaoqing, Guangdong	1995	2017
Foshan	佛山	Foshan, Guangdong	1993	2019
Guangzhou	廣州	Guangzhou, Guangdong	1979	1996
Guangzhou East	廣州東		1996	2020
Changping	常平	Dongguan, Guangdong	1995	2020
Hung Hom	紅磡	Kowloon, Hong Kong	1979	2020

See also

• Guangzhou–Shenzhen–Hong Kong Express Rail Link

References

External links

• MTRC intercity passenger services

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