HONG KONG, Sept. 4 (Xinhua) -- The mainland port area of Hong Kong West Kowloon Station, the terminus of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link (XRL), opened at 12 a.m. on Tuesday.

An opening ceremony was held at the station. The mainland port area will be managed according to laws of the Chinese mainland as well as a co-location arrangement, which was adopted by a bimonthly session of the National People's Congress Standing Committee in December last year.

The Hong Kong section of the XRL, which will offer direct services from Hong Kong to 44 mainland destinations, is set to start operation on Sept. 23. Final preparations are made for the opening of the Hong Kong section of the XRL.