Shenzhen-Zhongshan Link to open on Sunday, cutting Hong Kong travel time

The Shenzhen-Zhongshan Link, which is set to shorten travel time between Hong Kong and cities on the other side of the Pearl River Delta while also spurring leisure travel, will open to traffic at 3pm on Sunday.

The road link’s management authority, which made the announcement in a briefing with mainland Chinese media on Thursday, said an inauguration ceremony would take place on Sunday morning. Hundreds of Hongkongers have already joined cross-border tour groups set to use the new transport link.

The 24km-long (15-mile) crossing, situated 30km south of the Humen Bridge that links Guangzhou and Dongguan, will connect the two sides of the Pearl River Delta within the mainland.

It will connect Zhongshan to Shenzhen via two bridges, two artificial islands and one undersea tunnel that is 6.8km long and 46 metres (151 feet) wide.

Eddie Choi, chairman of the Non-Franchised Public Bus Association of Hong Kong, said coaches and other heavy vehicles were currently required to use Nansha Bridge, north of the older Humen Bridge, to reach destinations on the western side of the delta.

Not only would the new link trim travel time between Hong Kong and Zhongshan from 2½ hours to 1 hour and 45 minutes, it would also benefit trips to and from Guangzhou and other cities in the north by diverting traffic away from existing bridges, he said.

In addition to offering fuel savings, the link would likely spur Hongkongers’ demand for same-day travel to Zhongshan and surrounding cities, although operators were taking a wait-and-see approach and were in no rush to increase frequency of buses, Choi said.