The government on Friday announced that long-haul express rail services will resume in two phases from March 11.

In the first phase, trains will go to and from Chaoshan, Shantou and Zhaoqingdong.

From April 1, trains will go further afield than Guangdong, to cities including Shanghai and Beijing.

Transport minister Lam Sai-hung said the resumption has been a long time coming.

"There's a huge demand for long-haul services of the express rail. We hope that through the resumption, people can travel more frequently between the SAR and the mainland, and hopefully this can attract more mainland tourists to come," he said.

The high-speed rail link reopened with trains to Shenzhen and Guangzhou in January, following a three-year suspension due to the pandemic.

As of late February, the link had an average daily patronage of more 23,000 passenger trips, the government said.