The MTR Corporation on Friday said that as of midday, 3,357 high-speed rail tickets to the mainland had been sold for January 15, the day the line reopens.

Ten-thousand seats per day, 5,000 in each direction, have been on sale since Thursday lunchtime.

On an RTHK radio programme, the railway company's transport services director, Jeny Yeung, said she was aware that many people queued up at West Kowloon Station on Thursday, but tickets are still available.

"There are still tickets left for each day, but some popular time slots have been sold out... We will monitor ticket sales, and discuss the frequency of trains with various departments. We also hope to increase the 10,000 daily ticket quota gradually," she said.

Speaking on the same programme, the chairman of Legco's railways subcommittee, Ben Chan, urged the government to raise the daily ticket quota as soon as possible, saying it can't meet demand.

Chan also said that services to places further afield than Guangzhou should be laid on, to destinations such as Wuhan and Fujian.

Another lawmaker, Scott Leung, echoed Chan's views.

"Each train can accommodate over 1,000 passengers, but only 200 to 300 tickets can be sold, which is only one-fourth of the total capacity. As trains to Guangzhoudong are more popular, we should discuss whether we can increase the quota for the trains," Leung said.

The lawmakers added that many people encountered difficulties when buying tickets on the mainland's 12306 website, and urged the MTR to provide better guidelines on this for the public.
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Last updated: 2023-01-13 HKT 15:34