Three years of changes to Hong Kong transport

It has been three years since my last visit to Hong Kong, and in that time there has been a number of changes to local transport.

First off are new trains. Manufactured by Changchun Railway Vehicles in Mainland China, the first of these new C-Train units entered service on the Mass Transit Railway in 2011.

New 'C-Train' EMU in service on the MTR Kwun Tong line

New trams have also entered service on the Hong Kong Tramways. Known as the ‘Seventh Generation’ tramcars, the new units combine modern technology with the classic double deck tramcar look and feel that are a city icon.

'Seventh Generation' Hong Kong Tramways double deck car

Out in the New Territories the refurbishment of older light rail vehicles has also been carried out. In 2011 the MTR commenced the refurbishment of the Phase I units built by Comeng in Melbourne in 1988, and with their new fronts and livery, they now look similar to the newest Phase IV LRVs.

Phase I LRV on Castle Peak Road in Yuen Long

Cross-border Intercity Through Train services have also seen some changes. During my last visit the KTT was covered with an all over advertising livery for the 2010 Asian Games held in Guangzhou, China. Now is is back in the standard white, teal and blue livery.

MTR operated 'KTT' double deck train outside Sha Tin

China Railways have also changed the rolling stock used on their services into Hong Kong, with the older 25Z class carriages now replaced by those of the more luxurious 25T class. Presumably with the spread of the CRH high speed rail network across China has enabled the cascading down of carriage stock to other services.

China Railways electric locomotive SS8 0141 leads a consist of type 25T carriages

Stations on the Mass Transit Railway has also been modernised, with above ground stations on the Kwun Tong, Tsuen Wan and Island Lines finally being sealed off from the tracks, after being retrofitted with half-height ‘automatic platform gates’. The underground stations had been retrofitted with full height platform screen doors a number of years earlier.

Automatic platform gates in place at Ngau Tau Kok station

Ticketing system have also been updated, with the MTR starting to withdraw their existing magnetic-strip Single Journey Tickets from sale, replacing them with new ‘Smart Tickets‘ – an Octopus-style touch card that gets collected on exit.

MTR turnstiles partially converted to the new 'Single Journey Smart Tickets'

However the biggest changes are the construction of new railway lines – five of which are well underway.

The first is the Guangzhou–Shenzhen–Hong Kong Express Rail Link, which will being the CRH high speed railway network across the border from China into Hong Kong via a 26 kilometer long tunnel to the new West Kowloon Terminus. Located between Austin and Kowloon MTR stations, the massive new railway station will form a new gateway to the city from the mainland.

Cranes tower over a massive hole at the future West Kowloon Terminus

A new railway with more localised impacts is the Sha Tin to Central Link – it will extend the existing Ma On Shan line underground into Kowloon, then under Victoria Harbour to Hong Kong Island, with interchanges to other MTR lines at Diamond Hill, Ho Man Tin and Hung Hom stations.

Cranes and construction equipment at work on the Sha Tin to Central Link at Diamond Hill

The other three projects are the Kwun Tong Line extension, the West Island Line, and the South Island Line (East).

I wonder what changes will greet me on my next visit to Hong Kong?

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4 Responses to Three years of changes to Hong Kong transport

  1. GreatPrototype says:

    Hello sir. Are you going to write about the South Island Line and the Kwun Tong Line Extension in the near future? Thank you.

  2. Jacob Louy says:

    Lots of great addition to the MTR the last three years, but I can’t help but feel that the same period has seen the most depressing changes too. Examples: the retirements of the MLR and the Phase II LRV’s.

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