The Beijing-Kowloon Railway, a major north-south corridor linking Beijing with Shenzhen and connecting onward to Hong Kong, marked 30 years of full operation on Tuesday (Sept. 1). According to China State Railway Group, the line has carried 1.77 billion passenger trips and moved 1.05 billion metric tons of freight.
Stretching 2,397 kilometers from Beijing West Railway Station through eight provincial-level regions to Shenzhen in Guangdong, the railway was China's largest rail project at the time it opened on Sept 1, 1996. It has eased pressure on the country's north-south transport network while bringing rail services to areas including the Dabie Mountains and southern Jiangxi.
After five rounds of speed upgrades, the top speed for passenger trains rose from 60 km/h to 160 km/h, cutting travel time between Beijing and Shenzhen from 49 hours to under 22. In 2025 alone, the railway handled 95.1 million passenger trips—more than four times its early-year level.
The line has also become a key freight route. Ganzhou International Land Port in Jiangxi has run more than 1,700 China-Europe freight trains, linking with over 100 cities in more than 20 countries. With more sections of the Beijing–Hong Kong high-speed rail corridor coming online in recent years, conventional and high-speed services now work together to expand capacity along this vital artery.
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