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	Beijing; Hong Kong SAR;
First service	18 May 1997
Last service	9 August 2022
Current operator(s)	CR Guangzhou
Route
Termini	Beijing West; Guangzhou East; Hung Hom
Technical
Track owner(s)	China Railway (China section); KCRC (Hong Kong section);

The Beijing–Kowloon through train (Chinese: 京九直通车; pinyin: jīng jiǔ zhítōng chē) was an intercity railway service between Hung Hom station (formerly Kowloon station until 1998) in Hong Kong and the Beijing West railway station in China, jointly operated by the 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, services to Hong Kong has been suspended indefinitely since 30 January 2020. There has been no plan to resume its service, even after the end of the pandemic. After the resumption of train services suspended due to COVID-19, this series of train services only retain the itinerary within mainland China (Beijing-Guangzhou) and no longer operate the itinerary to Hong Kong.

On 9 August 2022, the train Z97/98 was suspended due to the construction of the Guangzhou Baiyun railway station, which opened in December 2023.

On 4 June 2024, China Railway announced that the services from Beijing and Shanghai to Hung Hom will be replaced by high-speed sleeper trains to West Kowloon station.^[2] The train number renamed from Z97/98 to D909/910(Later renamed to G897/898 on 30 September 2024). The Beijing West railway station port is closed officially on 5 July 2024.^[3]

Carriages

The train operated in two parts, where 11 carriages would depart Hong Kong (travelling under number Z97B from Beijing and Z98B 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	Hung Hom－Guangzhou East	Guangzhou East－Beijing West
Locomotives and their allocation	SS8 electric locomotive Guangzhou Railway Group Guangzhou Depot (Chinese: 广铁广段)	HXD1D electric locomotive Guangzhou Railway Group Guangzhou Depot (Chinese: 广铁广段) or HXD3D electric locomotive Beijing Railway Bureau Beijing Depot (Chinese: 京局京段)

Operation

On the ticket availability board in Beijing West railway station, the Beijing–Kowloon through train was numbered as P97 to distinguish it from the train going to Guangzhou East.

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.^[4] 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.

Check hall for Beijing–Kowloon through train at Beijing West railway station.

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:^[5]

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

Notes

^ Services to Hung Hom have been suspended indefinitely since 30 Jan 2020 and the train currently runs only from Beijing to Guangzhou East.

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.
^ "Trains to depart Hong Kong at night, arrive in Beijing in morning from June 15". South China Morning Post. 4 June 2024.
^ "海关总署公告2024年第96号（关于关闭北京西站、上海站、广州、东莞等4个铁路口岸的公告）". General Administration of Customs. Retrieved 2024-08-01.
^ MTR ticketing information (Note 1 under "Beijing–Kowloon through train")
^ Official timetable

External links

MTRC intercity passenger services

[1] Services to Hung Hom have been suspended indefinitely since 30 Jan 2020 and the train currently runs only from Beijing to Guangzhou East.

[2] "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.

[3] "Trains to depart Hong Kong at night, arrive in Beijing in morning from June 15". South China Morning Post. 4 June 2024.

[4] "海关总署公告2024年第96号（关于关闭北京西站、上海站、广州、东莞等4个铁路口岸的公告）". General Administration of Customs. Retrieved 2024-08-01.

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

[6] Official timetable

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