The sea crossing section of MTR East Rail line was opened to traffic on the 15th. More than 2000 citizens scrambled to catch the "first day special class" from the Convention and Exhibition station in Wanchai, Hong Kong Island at 5:25 a.m. that day. The class arrived at Hung Hom Station in Kowloon about five minutes later. In the early morning of the 15th, many citizens lined up outside the Convention and Exhibition station to witness the opening of the station. MTR personnel opened the entrance and exit of the station in advance. Ou Yang Boquan, chairman of MTR Corporation, and Jin Zepei, chief executive of MTR Corporation, welcomed the first batch of passengers at the Convention and Exhibition station. MTR representatives and passengers boarded the "first day special class" to share the joy of opening to traffic, and presented limited edition masks and badges to passengers as a souvenir. In addition, MTR will send 100000 free local one-way tickets to celebrate the opening of the railway. The opening of the sea crossing section of the east rail line marks that the east rail line, a railway that has served Hong Kong for more than 100 years, extends across the Victoria Harbour and connects the new territories, Kowloon and Hong Kong Island. Jin Zepei said that with the opening of the sea crossing section of the east rail line, the new Convention and Exhibition station and the expansion of Admiralty Station and Hung Hom station have been put into service, and the MTR has also introduced new trains and new signal systems. MTR said that as of 11 a.m. that day, more than 8700 people had entered and exited the Convention and Exhibition station, 13300 people entered and exited Hung Hom station and 18800 people entered and exited Admiralty Station. MTR will deploy additional staff to assist passengers in the early stage of operation. The east rail line was first put into operation in 1910, from Kowloon to Lo Wu through the new territories. It is the oldest heavy railway in Hong Kong. The east rail line has witnessed the transformation of the Hong Kong Railway for more than a century, from steam locomotives and diesel locomotives at the beginning to electrified locomotives in the 1980s, and various modern trains have been introduced one after another. (Xinhua News Agency)