The railway between Guangzhou and Shenzhen, two of South China's major cities, has become the first in China to incorporate digital payment, according to an announcement by the Guangshen Railyway Co Ltd.

It is among the measures taken to improve the efficiency of the 2019 Spring Festival travel rush, which kicked off on Monday.

Passengers taking the intercity rail can pay by scanning the QR code of their e-wallet upon entering and leaving stations along the line, without purchasing the tickets in advance

The service also is available for foreign passengers and residents from Hong Kong and Macao who don't have Chinese ID cards for verification, but they need to register beforehand on certain machines at the stations with their passports or travel permits.

The new service is expected to greatly enhance the efficiency of the railway, one of the busiest in the Pearl River Delta region, China's major driver of economic development.