Extended rail network to boost living standards and development

Born into a family with four generations of workers in the railway sector and having grown up near the tracks, Jiang also became a railway worker.

Recalling his childhood in Yingtan, his hometown in Jiangxi's northeast, he said he frequently saw trains carrying fresh food pass through the city.

"When I was a child, I frequently saw vegetables and livestock being shipped to the south, to Hong Kong, in covered wagons," he said.

He was referring to three renowned express trains. From 1962 to 2010, they operated from Shanghai, Zhengzhou, capital of Henan province, and Wuhan, capital of Hubei province, delivering fresh food from the mainland to Hong Kong via Shenzhen every day.

Even during the mainland's toughest times－such as the great famine from 1959 to 1961, or the 2003 outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome in Hong Kong－the trains carried food to the city without interruption.

As methods of transportation became more varied, the express trains entered the city's history, but railway transportation is still a significant way for goods from Jiangxi to reach Hong Kong, according to Huang.

In addition to the Jingjiu link, another railway route connects Hong Kong－via the Beijing-Guangzhou rail link and the Guangzhou-Shenzhen rail link on the mainland, and the East Rail Line in Hong Kong.

It shoulders the responsibility of transporting passengers and goods between Hong Kong and the mainland.

The operations of the Jingjiu Railway, which now focuses on freight transportation, have relieved the pressure on the overburdened railway, enhancing the transportation capabilities between Hong Kong and cities in the Pearl River Delta and central and northern China.