The 28km $HK 84.4bn ($US 10.8bn) section in Hong Kong is due to open in the third quarter of 2018. The trains, which are a derivative of the CRH380A sets operated by China Railway Corporation (CRC) will operate at 200km/h in Hong Kong and a 48-minute journey time is envisaged between Kowloon West and Guangzhou South.

Trains will operate at 15-minute intervals between Kowloon West and Shenzhen North and every 30-minute intervals between there and Guangzhou South. There will also be 33 trains per day from Hong Kong to cities in mainland China.