January 15th is the second day of the 2025 Spring Festival travel rush, and also the second anniversary of the resumption of the Guangzhou Shenzhen Hong Kong high-speed railway from Futian to Hong Kong. At 9 o'clock in the morning, Futian Station located in the center of Shenzhen welcomed a peak in passenger flow. Many passengers were carrying New Year's goods, with red packaging boxes and decorations of "fu" Chinese New Year flowers and red lanterns in the waiting hall complementing each other. After entering the Spring Festival travel rush, the passenger flow at Futian Station has steadily increased, with a large proportion of cross-border passenger flow. The passenger flow between Shenzhen and Hong Kong is bustling, and the luggage carried by passengers has also increased significantly compared to before Li Shujia, the secretary of the Party branch of Futian Station, told reporters. The reporter learned from the Shenzhen railway department that in 2024, the Futian to Hong Kong section of the Guangzhou Shenzhen Hong Kong high-speed railway not only consolidated the operational achievements of the first year of reopening, but also demonstrated new formats and highlights in multiple aspects. According to statistics, the daily average number of cross-border high-speed trains between Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and Hong Kong in 2024 will exceed 130. The Guangzhou Shenzhen Hong Kong high-speed railway sent 13.988 million passengers from the mainland to Hong Kong, and 13.423 million passengers from Hong Kong to the mainland. Among them, 7.967 million passengers were sent from Shenzhen to Hong Kong, a year-on-year increase of 43%. Especially with the addition of trains from Zhangjiajie West and Xi'an North to Hong Kong West Kowloon, Hong Kong's high-speed rail network has been able to directly reach 94 cities in mainland China, providing passengers with more convenient and diverse travel options. In June 2024, sleeper trains between Hong Kong and Beijing/Shanghai will resume operation in a new form of high-speed rail dynamic sleeper, adding new options to transportation between Hong Kong and mainland China. In October of the same year, the Beijing Hong Kong and Shanghai Hong Kong high-speed trains were upgraded to the "Fuxing" sleeper high-speed trains with a speed of 350 kilometers per hour, further improving the service quality of cross-border transportation. Over the past year, Hong Kong's high-speed rail has transported more than 66000 cross-border passengers. According to the relevant person in charge of Shenzhen Station, in order to continuously facilitate the travel of mainland and Hong Kong passengers, Shenzhen North Station and Futian Station will continue to sell round-trip tickets and regular tickets to West Kowloon Station, and work closely with MTR to promote the extension of "flexible travel" to Shenzhen North Station from March 18, 2024, providing cross-border passengers with more relaxed and comfortable travel choices. As of January 14, 2025, the "Flexible Travel" product has served over 540000 passengers. Li Shujia told reporters that Futian Station has comprehensively optimized its gate software to improve traffic efficiency by quickly identifying Hong Kong and Macau travel permits. In addition, Futian Station has established a love relay circle and a "Futian West Kowloon Lost and Found" WeChat group, providing passengers with a more intimate and convenient service experience. (New Society)