(L-R) Director of China's Liaison Office in Hong Kong Wang Zhimin, Vice Chairman of CPPCC Leung Chun-ying, Guangdong Governor Ma Xingrui, Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam, Vice Chairman of CPPCC Tung Chee-hwa and Director of the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office Zhang Xiaoming attend the opening ceremony of the Hong Kong Section of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link, in Hong Kong, September 22, 2018. (Reuters Photo)

‍Hong Kong has officially joined the national high-speed rail network and entered a new era with high-speed rail, Chief Executive of the special administrative region (SAR) Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor said on Saturday, as the city's first high-speed train came into service, crossing the border to Guangdong Province on the Chinese mainland.

"We will continue to improve on matters related to railway safety, operation and management, as well as passenger experience, such that the Hong Kong section of the express rail can become a bright light on the country's business card," Lam said.

Lam made the remarks at the opening ceremony of the $11 billion Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link, which was held a day before the official launch of the railway.

Lam express optimism in an interview with CGTN's reporter that many people in Hong Kong will particularly favor using the high-speed train to travel to cities in the mainland. Lam said she is expecting more exchanges and cooperation in all respects with the high-speed train.

Top Chinese officials, including Tung Chee-hwa and Leung Chun-ying, both vice chairmen of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, China's top political advisory body; Director of the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council Zhang Xiaoming, as well as Guangdong Governor Ma Xingrui, attended the ceremony.

Ma said the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong High-Speed Rail, as the main transport project in the building of the Greater Bay Area, is expected to enable the flow of passengers between Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland in a most efficient way, through the initiative of co-location border check arrangement in the West Kowloon Station. 

The express rail was a "milestone" in the building of the Greater Bay Area, a plan aiming to increase regional coordination and integration, he said.

The guests also got a chance to take a ride with one of the newly commissioned high-speed trains, locally called "Vibrant Express," to travel from Hong Kong to Guangzhou South Station. The non-stop journey of 146 kilometers took the guests just 43 minutes, and their return trip, which stopped over in Futian, took 48 minutes.