Hong Kong West Kowloon Station — Attraction in Hong Kong

To come to the West Kowloon West High-speed Railway Station, people can come by car, bus, taxi or MTR trains. People who get off from MTR Austin Station of the West Railway line or The Kowloon Station of the Tung Chung or Airport Express lines will take 5 and 10 minutes to walk through the underground tunnels or flyovers to West Kowloon Station, respectively. Alternatively, the Station can be reached through the Green Garden on the ground level. People can enjoy fresh air, green scenery and open space before entering the station through the Main glass-curtained front entrance or many entrances on each side of the Station.

Amazing and morden architecture. Very efficient and logical layout of all the departure and arrival areas. Beautiful views from inside and outside the station. You can even walk on the top of the roof of the station😉. It is breathtaking views of Victoria Harbour and the Hong Kong island. The ticket selling area is clearly located. You can buy the tickets via the HK MTR website or China website and collect your ordered tickets via automatic machines or counters. Simply, you come to the station counter and buy your destination tickets. The brilliant idea of co-location of both HK and Mainland China Immigration and Customs serves people very well as it is very convenient to process immigration and custom in the same location. Although other countries like USA and Canada have the same arrangements e. g. in Toronto Pearson Airport, it is quite novel in Hong Kong. Now we can get on bullet trains to travel in short-haul routes to Guangzhounan Station or long-haul routes as far as Beijing and Shanghai 😄. So convenient. There are a few food stores, food court and restaurants in the terminal. However, you need to bring in your own food to the waiting area once you pass the Mainland China customs as there is no food or drink selling in the waiting area. There are a few well-known HK branded souvenirs shops where you can do your last minute shopping 😁. You will find travelling on high speed railway from HK West Terminal is stress free and wonderful...

Unhelpful staff, especially in Window 27 and 12306 helphesk for reprinting trip receipts and 12306 enquiries. Experienced on April 11, 2023, for ticketing enquiries

If you hold non Chinese identification documents for your tickets, buy your tickets onsite and it is advised not getting them using any of the online agents that unable to print ticket information or you will risk issues and hurdles in entering and exiting gates in mainland stations. Get your tickets in Station for having the receipt although it cannot be used as a ticket passing through the automatic gates. Have your receipt ready at the day of travelling.

E-tickets are in use, your ID is your ticket, but not all IDs can go through automatic gates smoothly, even at major HSR hubs like Guangzhou. Be prepared to use staff assisted counters and have your receipt handy when using those counters.

Allow plenty of buffer time. 30-45mins is considered fast for clearing immigration formalities at both sides. Allow 50% more during peak pre-holiday periods, allow extra 50% on top if you are traveling with elderly. If you are using passport as your ID for your e-tickets, please pass through the first check-in gates as early as possible. You may pass through the first check-in departure gate 2 hours before your train leaves.

Your ticket will be voided if you are late and may be unable to exchange for the next available depatures for free. You must arrive at the boarding gate 5 mins before the train leaves.

Extra update in April 2024. Flexi trip service available for Shenzhen stations (futien or Shenzhen north), tickets can be exchanged up to 3 times and before 1 hr after your departed. If you hold non chinese IDs and not using 12306 for getting the tickets, you must allow extra time to exchange your tickets. Alternations takes a lot of time if you don't use 12306 and will risk your ticket voided due to time constraints. First checkin gates can be extremely crowded during weekends and holiday peaks. It may take up to 30 mins to pass through the first...

Very efficient station that seems overbuilt but somehow already at capacity for the relatively small amount of passengers that pass through each day.

You will need to pass Customs twice - once for China and once for Hong Kong. There is a duty free shop between the two customs areas but the pricing (at least for alcohol) is not quite competitive.

We went through China - Hong Kong twice at 9am and 11am, and the reverse twice at 2pm and 7pm.

Immigration processing was quite fast unlike the experience of others - all four times passing both Customs areas was about 30 minutes. We took 20 minutes at China Customs (30 Day Visa Free Foreign Passport) and 10 minutes at Hong Kong Customs (Visa Free). Budget at least 1 hour for safety though. Remember to fill in the Arrival Card for China Customs if entering China (this is not well marked).

Not many services "airside" apart from water dispensers. There is a ticketing office where you can change your tickets if you are very early for your train. Ticketing for any particular train stops 45 minutes before departure.

Lots of restaurants and a small amount of shops "landside".

If you need a Octopus Card you can get the Tourist version for $150 HKD from the MTR vending machine ($111 value + $39 deposit) or slightly different amounts from 7-Eleven/Circle-K ($61 + $39 deposit) or ($0 + $39 deposit). You can of course also get the standard Octopus Card ($50 deposit, refundable) from any MTR station.

For SIM card in Hong Kong, ignore the very long lines at Circle-K and the expensive tourist desk in West Kowloon Station, and go walk directly into Austin MTR Station via the marked exit.

The 7-Eleven there sells a $33 HKD "MySim" SIM card with 30 day service, 60 GB of 4G data and 5000 local HK call minutes. Easy enough to register with foreign passport - no HK ID required. Just remember to select English when starting...