Opinion | Hong Kong’s express rail link opponents risk derailing city’s link to the future
Stephen Ng says opposition to co-location plans for the high-speed rail link is short-sighted on several counts, and risks making the city a laughing stock of the world
With its express rail link, Hong Kong is finally about to join the expanding club of modern cities served by modern inter-city rail.
With any constitution, intent is always up to interpretation. The opposition will always try to find endless technical “reasons” why something cannot be done. They should come up with not just “problems” but also, much more importantly, possible solutions. As the vast majority in Hong Kong supports co-location, we need to find a way to make it happen.
Our mini-constitution has served us well for the past 20 years, and I do not expect this to change. What does bother me, however, is that our special status at times seems to be an excuse to reject any effort to enhance relations with the mainland and also to throw common sense out of the window.
All you need to know about the Hong Kong-mainland rail link
The whole point of co-location in West Kowloon is convenience and comfort. Requiring passengers to disembark to clear immigration and customs formalities at the border would be ludicrous. I look forward to being able to hop on the train in Kowloon and arriving in Guangzhou in less than an hour without interruption or hassle, and the same goes for other cities.
