Tickets for new overnight high-speed trains to the mainland went on sale on Wednesday, with the first service to Beijing selling out.

Trains to the capital and Shanghai will run Friday-Monday from June 15.

Queues for tickets formed at West Kowloon Station, while mainland app 12306 showed no places left for the first train to Beijing, although people could join a wait list.

"We were really happy when we saw the news [regarding the new services], so we immediately decided to travel to Shanghai," a woman told RTHK at West Kowloon.

"The journey time was 19 hours before, and it's only 11 hours now. The duration is eight hours shorter," she said.

Another woman said she arrived at the station 90 minutes before tickets went on sale, to book a spot on a train to Shanghai.

"For the price, it's a bit expensive. Our tickets cost one thousand dollars each. But it's not convenient for us to travel by plane. We're old people," she said.

A man said he normally drives to the mainland, but wants to try the overnight train instead.

"Basically, I have to go to Beijing once a year and I like trying new things," he said.