Beneath the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen lies the largest underground railway station in Asia and the second largest in the world next to the Grand Central Terminal in New York City. The station, which offers a fast rail service connecting Guangzhou and Hong Kong, was opened to the public on Wednesday.

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The new rail line shortens travel time between the two cities by half an hour. Named the Futian High-speed Railway Station, the new terminal extends a total area of 147,000 square meters (i.e. the size of 21 football fields combined).

The three-level subterranean station is operated by the Guangzhou Railway Corporation and can reportedly accommodate up to 3000 passengers at a time.

Boarding an ordinary train, the en route time between Guangzhou and Hong Kong usually takes two hours. But this high-speed train cuts that time by half an hour. Furthermore, travel time for Shenzhen locals to Hong Kong can be as quick as 15 minutes only.

The Futian Railway Station is one of the seven stops on the Guangzhou--Shenzhen--Hong Kong Express Rail Link. Between the Futian Station and Guangzhou South Station, there will be 11 pairs of high-speed trains every day starting Wednesday to January 9. Then beginning January 10, 12 other round trips will be added.

A local railway official said that the terminal, during the initial period, is expected to accommodate an average of 10,000 passengers.

First class and second class cabins from Futian to Guangzhou South sell at RMB 108 (HK$ 129) and RMB 82 (HK$ 98), respectively. The project approximately costs RMB3.95 million (HK$ 47.2 billion).

Currently, only the mainland part of the railway line has been completed as the Hong Kong section has been bombarded with several issues including delays, excess budget and wrangling over border checkpoint settlement. 

Tagsrailway, underground railway station, Hong Kong, Guangzhou, Futian High-speed Railway Station