Originally Posted by
cantongirl
I fly a lot between HEL and CAN, with AY. Though the only-summer schedule by AY was quite frustrating, the now opened high speed railway HKG-CAN really save the day, I have done it three times. (All reaching CAN downtown by noon)
time break down,
morng arrival 9am HKG,
HKG airport to West Kowloon railway station by metro(HK) airport express, 24mins
West KL(HK) to CAN(south) by highspeed railway, max 60mins, departure every 30mims or so.Fastest one is a no-stop-47mins reaching CAN (10am everyday, given AY arrival in HKG and transfer in Metro, not likely but doable if you are lucky, becoz u need 30mins spare time doing cross border passport contro only one-time in West Kowloon HK to enter mainland China)
Reach CAN(south) before noon anyhow.
CAN(south) is suburban region of CAN, going to CAN business center by metro or taxi, depends where you go, max can be 1hr though.
The whole journey reaching downtowm is less than 13hr, maximum. And the high speed railway is also pleasant.
(Remind you if you fly to CAN by CA or CX via stops, let say, min 14.5hrs not considering delay time inside China, which is quite common, the airport of CAN is in CAN(north), from there to CAN downtown also takes 40mins, def more than 15.5hrs in the outmost optimal scenario, and usually can be way longer. In this sense, high speed railway is so much punctual than air flight)
I did this transfer for the first time last week, and while I agre it is better than a Hung Hom transfer, it is in no way a proper replacement for a daily/year-around direct to CAN.
I assume the transfer time can be kept to a minimum when one knows the transfer well, but in my first time I had scheduled a 3h 35 min gap and it was just slightly pessimistic. I don't think anything less than 2,5 hours would be prudent.
The high speed rail has its advantages, but has some real disadvatages too.
a) Does not allow check in bags (like the slow rail does). You can have bags transported for you by a third party at Kowloon west, but bags will not arrive even the same day in CAN!
b) Max carry on allowance is 1PC at max size (w+h+l) 130 cm and 20kg
c) If you don't hold PRC passport or HK id card, you need to personally collect ticket 45 minutes prior to departure
d) If you miss this deadline , your ticket is gone and you need to buy a new one. Ticket change is only allowed 60 minutes before departure. So "being lucky" and opting for a earlier train can be expensive.
e) Transfer time is therefore considerable. Allow for delay of incoming flight, bag collection, Airport express travel time, a walk from Kowloon to Kowloon west station, ticket pick up deadline, security check, HK immigrations, CN immigrations and CN customs. I'd say no less than 2,5 hours for the transfer.
f) it is some effort involved in the transfer if you carry a bag, as bag must be carried through several doorways, up/down several elevators, through several scanners.
If Guangzhounan (south) is better than arriving at airport is probably in the eye of the beholder. Guangzhounan har the advantage of being on a metro-line but is pretty far out. Guangzhou east (Hung Hom transfer) is likely the best arrival site of these three, if going down town.
If travelling alone and with a cabin-sized carry on, then I probably would consider the high speed rail as an viable option.
But if I have bags, or travelling with a entourage that needs some assistance, I would most certainly not consider it. I would make any effort to go directly to CAN instead. If that can't be done, I would transfer onto CX/KA and just sit the hours out in the lounge.