After consulting MTR CORPORATION (00066.HK), the Secretary for Transport and Logistics, Chen Mei-po, responded to a member's inquiry. She pointed out that since the Hong Kong section of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong High-speed Rail was put into service on September 23, 2018, the number of direct stations has increased from 44 to 80. Short-haul destinations have expanded from six (namely Futian, Shenzhen North, Guangmingcheng, Humen, Qingsheng, and Guangzhou South) to the current ten, while long-haul destinations have increased to 70.

Chen Mei-po also cited statistics from the Immigration Department showing that in the first ten months of this year, the passenger volume of the Hong Kong section of the High-speed Rail exceeded 21 million, surpassing the total for the entire year of 2023. In the first ten months of this year, the average daily passenger volume has reached nearly 90% of the forecast for 2018.