‘Such a link will help to provide even better synergy between the two airports and improve the efficiency of the region as a whole’ said Tsang in the speech delivered at the opening ceremony of the 4th MIPIM Asia.

The HKSAR Government and the Shenzhen Municipal Government first started talking about the link when they formed the Task Force on Airport Co-operation between Hong Kong and Shenzhen in January 2008.

The Task Force has commissioned experts to conduct a study on the Hong Kong-Shenzhen Airport Rail Link (ARL).

In August 2009 The Governments of Hong Kong and Shenzhen agreed to rename the “Hong Kong-Shenzhen Airport Rail Link” as the “Hong Kong-Shenzhen Western Express Line” (WEL). The two parties then agreed that the WEL would link up the western Hong Kong and Shenzhen, the Hong Kong International Airport and the Shenzhen International Airport. Through the intermediate station at the Qianhai transport hub and the spur line to northwest Hong Kong, the WEL would connect to the Hong Kong and Shenzhen’s railway network.

In October 2009 the government commissioned the WEL study, stating that it will cost more than HK$50 billion to build the rail link, as most of the Hong Kong section would have to be built underground and include a seven-kilometre cross-harbour tunnel between the airport and Tuen Mun. The study estimated a daily patronage of 7,000 air transit passengers travelling between the two airports in 2020, when the rail link could be completed.

Currently, high-speed ferry and bus services are provided by various operators between the two airports.

Sign in with a social network: