Originally Posted by
intuition
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.
Well, maybe I can explain more in this thread instead, and not flood the frequency thread anymore:
The most convenient way, apart from direct flight, would definitely be on a KA feeder, but unfortunately the time does not match.
The second convenient option would be ferry to Guangzhou Lian Hua Shan at 10:30, good time for AY101, and only get on land there.
Other options include the old thru train which get you directly to the city centre, but the problem is the A21 bus is so damn slow, and the train isn't fast either.
Another old option is to go to Shenzhen to take the semi high speed train to Guangzhou East, by means of A43 bus and a metro between, bit this route is usually crowded since it pass thru the busiest border in the world.
The new HSR brings you to Guangzhou South but it is only convenient for Chinese Citizens because of the Chinese mentality - Chinese citizens can use the automatic ticket collection machine from 12306 (mainland ticketing system) which doesn't have a time limit, and the 12306 ticketing deadline on mobile is 30 minutes, giving us a reasonable time to buy the ticket on phone while riding the bus to train station. Those ticket collection machines do not read foreign passports.
Note that since the opening in September, many had changed due to chaos and dissatisfaction from people:
The ticketing deadline at counter is now 30 instead of 45 minutes unofficially.
Some 12306 collection machines have been shipped from Shenzhen because they are expected by mainland passengers, while initially there were none and the 12306 ticketing counters could not handle the vast amount of passengers, causing operation problems.
The A22 bus is now preferred to the Airport Express to the train station because it stops directly at the train station entrance, while you need to walk about 10 minutes from AE station to train station. Note that metro Austin Station is directly connected to the HSR station, you can treat them as the same, better than Hong Kong / Central transfer.