HK express rail makes historic debut

Connection to vast inland network called 'extraordinary gift' for nation

The much-awaited Hong Kong section of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link, or XRL, got off to a smooth start on Sunday in what could amount to a big bang in the evolution of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

Top officials from the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong had thrown their weight behind the impressive engineering feat, which allows Asia's financial center direct access to the country's massive 25,000-kilometers of high-speed railways - the largest network of its kind in the world.