Rail transport in Hong Kong

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

An Metro Cammell electric multiple unit running on the Tsuen Wan line

Hong Kong's rail network mainly comprises public transport trains operated by the MTR Corporation Limited (MTRC). The MTRC operates the metro network of the territory, the commuter rail network connecting the northeastern, northwestern and southwestern New Territories to the urban areas, and a light rail network in northwestern New Territories. The operations of the territory's two leading railway companies, MTRC and the Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation (KCRC), were merged in 2007 on grounds of economies of scale and cost effectiveness.[citation needed] The Hong Kong Government has an explicit stated[clarification needed] transport policy of using railways as its transport backbone.[1]

In addition to the MTR network, there are several smaller-scale railways run by different operators, including the Peak Tram and the Hong Kong Tramways, and other systems including the Disneyland Railroad and the Ocean Express.

History

The first mode of rail transport for the public in Hong Kong was the Peak Tram, serving The Peak (at Victoria Gap), the Mid-Levels and the city centre since 1888. This was followed by the Mount Parker Cable Car in 1892, but this system was terminated in 1932 and dismantled. The tram started service along the northern coast of the Hong Kong Island in 1904. The British Section of the Kowloon–Canton Railway (later the KCR East Rail, and now the East Rail line), a conventional railway, was opened in 1910.

It was not until 1979 that a rapid transit system, the MTR, was opened. Three years later, the British Section of the Kowloon–Canton Railway began its transition towards electrification, which changed it into a commuter rail, and eventually providing rapid transit-like service. The Light Rail Transit (LRT, now the MTR Light Rail) began its operation in the Tuen Mun and Yuen Long new towns in 1988. The two railway companies, MTR Corporation Limited and Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation, merged their operations in 2007 to form a single rapid transit network, with the KCRC granting the MTRCL a service concession to operate their KCR network.

In 2018, the

coronavirus pandemic
.

There are several extensions planned, such as Tung Chung West station and North Island line.

Trams and funiculars

Hong Kong Tramways map

MTR

Causeway Bay MTR station on the Island line

Including

heavy rail lines with 97 railway stations[needs update] and one light rail network
with 68 stops:

This system makes about HK$2 billion in profit in 2014 which is mainly generated from its property holding and development business.[5][needs update] Its portfolio include two of the city's tallest skyscrapers.[5]

Cross-border services

Through trains

Commonly known as through train (

Hukun railway
.

High speed rail

High speed train to Hong Kong departing Guangzhou South station
West Kowloon station in Hong Kong, adjacent to Kowloon station and Austin station

A high-speed rail link connects Hong Kong with

Futian, Longhua (Shenzhen North), and Humen, to Guangzhou South station and other cities in other provinces.[7][8]

With the completion of the rail link, the journey times have been reduced to 14 minutes between West Kowloon and Futian stations, 23 minutes between Hong Kong and Shenzhen North and 48 minutes between Hong Kong and Guangzhou South.[9] The service is a cooperation between the MTR Corporation and CR Guangzhou.

West Kowloon station is served by both short-distance and long-haul train services. Short-distance services consist of a frequent service to mainland Chinese cities in neighbouring Guangdong province, including Shenzhen, Dongguan and Guangzhou, while long-distance services link Hong Kong to at least 16 major destinations in mainland China, including Beijing West, Shijiazhuang, Zhengzhou East, Wuhan, Changsha South and Shanghai Hongqiao.[10]

A new railway connecting Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Hong Kong was proposed in the late 1990s by the Government of Hong Kong. This Regional Express Railway (RER) proposal was developed in the 1994 “Railway Development Study” (RDS); it foresaw a continual growth of Hong Kong's population over the next two decades and strong demand for cross-border passenger traffic.[11] By 2002, the concept of “regional express” gained further development and the proposal was advanced to be a high-speed rail line.[12] Construction of the Hong Kong section began in 2010. Following delays and controversies,[13][14][15] West Kowloon station was formally opened on 4 September 2018 and high speed trains started to run on the rail link to destinations in Mainland China from 23 September 2018.[16]

Station Name
English
Station Name
Chinese
Total
Distance
Transfer Location
Hong Kong West Kowloon 香港西九龍 / 香港西九龙 MTR Tung Chung line Airport Express (via Kowloon)
MTR Tuen Ma line (via Austin)
Yau Tsim Mong, Hong Kong

A second cross-border express railway, the Hong Kong–Shenzhen Western Express Railway, was proposed in the 2000s but shelved amidst concern over costs and the environment. The shelved proposal has been revived in October 2021 by the territory's then Chief Executive.[17][18][19]

Higher-speed capacity

Apart from the XRL mentioned above, MTR's trainsets for the Guangdong service, namely Lok 2000 locomotives and its carriages the Ktt, are designed to be able to run at 200 kilometres per hour (120 mph) but do not operate at those speeds on the tracks of the East Rail. The SP1900 EMUs (IKK trains; in reference to the Itochu, Kinki Sharyo and Kawasaki consortium) on the Tuen Ma line and formerly on the East Rail may run at 160 kilometres per hour (99 mph) but also do not operate at those speeds on those lines.

Automated People Mover

There is an Automated People Mover (APM),[20] a driverless electric train service, which is located at the basement level of Terminal 1 of Hong Kong International Airport. It travels the length of the 750-metre (2,460 ft) concourse between the East Hall and West Hall on a circular mode. Running at a speed of 62 km per hour, each APM carries 304 passengers in four cars. The APM operates every 2.5 minutes from 0600 to 0030 hours every day. It transports passengers whose flights are located at the West Hall, Southwest and Northwest concourses.

An Automated People Mover was also proposed by the territory's Chief Executive to connect

Other minor systems

Rail gauges and power supply

Rail gauges
and power supply of Hong Kong rails.

Rail
Rail gauge
Power supply
Remarks Signal system Height of platform Width of widest car (mm) Loading gauge width (mm) Height of tallest car (mm) Height clearance Height of contact wire

(mm)

MTR      Island line,      South Island line,      Kwun Tong line,      Tseung Kwan O line,      Tsuen Wan line (collectively Urban Lines except for South Island line)[24] 1,432 mm (4 ft 8+38 in) (except for
West Island line, South Island line, and Kwun Tong line extension)
(almost standard gauge
)

1435 mm (West Island line, South Island line, and Kwun Tong line extension)

1500 V DC [1]
overhead cable
Urban Lines:

SACEM and SACEM-SICAS for TKL, all lines to be upgraded to SelTrac in the 2020s

     South Island line:

Alstom Urbalis 400

1100 mm (43.3 in) 3118 3250 (with fixed platform gap filler) 3312 (without gap filler)

3940 (without platform)[25]

3700 (MTR Metro Cammell EMU (DC) without pantograph)

3910 (MTR Metro Cammell EMU (DC) with pantograph folded)

3755 mm (without pantograph)[25]

4100 mm (with pantograph folded)

(~4904 mm with pantograph folded in depots)

4200 mm (nominal and min., as built to same standards as Tung Chung line and Airport Express);

(~5029 mm in depots)

MTR      Tung Chung line,      Airport Express (collectively known as Airport Railway) 1,432 mm (4 ft 8+38 in)

(almost standard gauge)

1500 V DC (nominal) [2]; 1520 ± 20 V DC (in practice)[26]
overhead cable
SACEM, all lines to be upgraded to SelTrac in the 2020s 1250 mm (49.2 in)[25] 3118 (MTR Rotem EMU) 3250 (with fixed platform gap filler) 3312 (without gap filler)

3940 (without platform)[25]

3700 (MTR Adtranz–CAF EMU without pantograph) 3755 mm (without pantograph)[25]

4100 mm (with pantograph folded)

(~4904 mm with pantograph folded in depots)

4200 mm (nominal and min.);

4224.78 mm (mean);

4230 mm (max. on running lines)[26](~5029 mm in depot)

MTR      Disneyland Resort line 1,432 mm (4 ft 8+38 in)

(almost standard gauge)

1500 V DC [3]
overhead cable
SelTrac CBTC/R UTO 1100 mm (43.3 in) 3096 3250 (with fixed platform gap filler) 3312 (without gap filler)

3940 (without platform)[25]

3700 (without pantograph)

3910 (with pantograph folded)

3755 mm (without pantograph)[25]

4100 mm (with pantograph folded)

(~4904 mm with pantograph folded in depots)

4200 mm (nominal and min., as built to same standards as Tung Chung line and Airport Express);

(~5029 mm in depot)

(note: depot shared with Airport Railway)

MTR      East Rail line,      Tuen Ma line (formerly operated by KCR/KCRC) 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+12 in)
(
Standard gauge
)
25 kV AC
overhead cable
electrical supply same standard as
railways in mainland China
     East Rail line:

Siemens Trainguard MT CBTC

     Tuen Ma line: SelTrac CBTC DTO

3 ft 6 in (1066.8mm)[27] 3220 (MTR Hyundai Rotem EMU)[clarification needed] 3250 (with fixed platform gap filler) 3300 (without gap filler)

~3900 (without platform)

4600

(Ktt Kinki Sharyo coach)[28]

16 ft 6 in (5029.2 mm) (with pantograph folded) 17 ft 4 in (5283.2 mm)[27] (nominal and minimum)
MTR      Light Rail (formerly operated by KCR/KCRC) 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+12 in)
(
Standard gauge
)
750 V DC
overhead cable
Siemens Trainguard IMU 100 910 mm

(35.8 in)

2650 2670 5250 mm (with pantograph folded) 5300 mm (nominal and minimum)
Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link Hong Kong section 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+12 in)
(
Standard gauge
)
25 kV AC
overhead cable
everything[
railways in mainland China
1250 mm (49.2 in) 3380 3400 5250 mm (with pantograph folded) 5300 mm[29] (nominal and minimum)
Peak Tram 1,520 mm (4 ft 11+2732 in)
(
Russian gauge
)
N/A N/A Funicular
Hong Kong Tramways 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) 550 V DC
overhead cable
N/A 20 ft 8 in (6299.2 mm) (with trolley pole folded) (estimated) 21 ft (6400.8 mm) (estimated)
Hong Kong International Airport Automated People Mover N/A (Automated guideway transit) 3-phase 600 V AC
Third Rail
SelTrac
Hong Kong Disneyland Railroad 3 ft (914 mm) N/A N/A powered by three steam-shaped diesel locomotives
Ocean Park Ocean Express [zh
]
1,435 mm (4 ft 8+12 in)
(
Standard gauge
)
N/A N/A Funicular

List of densely populated places without rail transport

MTR route map

MTR System Map with effect from 15 May 2022

Former systems

See also

References

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External links