Tung Chung Line

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Tung Chung Line
東涌綫
MTR-TungChung-Train.JPG
Tung Chung Line train at Sunny Bay Station
Overview
Type Heavy rail
System MTR
Locale Districts: Central and Western, Yau Tsim Mong, Sham Shui Po, Kwai Tsing, Tsuen Wan, Islands
Stations 8
Ridership 236,900 daily average
(weekdays, September 2014)[1]
Operation
Opened 21 June 1998
Technical
Line length 30.5 km (19.0 mi)
Track gauge 1,432 mm (4 ft 8 3⁄8 in)
Electrification 1.5 kV DC
Route map
Tung Chung Line.svg
Tung Chung Line
Traditional Chinese 東涌綫
Simplified Chinese 东涌线

The Tung Chung Line is one of the 10 lines of the MTR system in Hong Kong. It links Tung Chung with Hong Kong Island. A part of the Tung Chung Line was built along with the Kap Shui Mun Bridge and the Tsing Ma Bridge. It currently travels through eight stations in 27 minutes along its route. The line is indicated by the colour orange.

History

In October 1989, the Hong Kong government decided to replace the overcrowded Kai Tak International Airport, located in Kowloon, with a new airport to be constructed at Chek Lap Kok. The government also invited the MTR, then called the MTRC, to build a train line to the airport called the Lantau Airport Railway. The project did not begin until the People's Republic of China government and the British government settled financial and land disagreements in November 1994.

The Lantau Airport Railway turned into two MTR lines, the Tung Chung Line and the Airport Express, both lines being served by A-Stock trains with dedicated interior fitouts and liveries. On 21 June 1998, the Tung Chung Line was officially opened by Hong Kong Chief Executive Tung Chee Hwa, and service commenced the next day.

On 16 December 2003, an open house for charity took place at the recently completed Nam Cheong Station, an interchange station between the Tung Chung Line and the West Rail Line. The station closed on 19 December 2003 in preparation for the opening of West Rail, and it was officially opened to the public on 20 December 2003. At the same time, the numbers of car units per A-Stock train increased from seven to eight.

On 1 June 2005, Sunny Bay Station, the interchange station for Disneyland Resort Line (DRL), opened two months prior to the opening of DRL.

Between 2006 and 2007, four new Korean built K-Stock trains were added in to Tung Chung Line to improve frequencies. The first train was received on 9 February 2006 and entered service on June 12, 2006. However, since the new trains were found to be a few millimetres wider than the existing trains, some modifications were made to station platforms.

Route map

File:LAR ga map.png
MTR Tung Chung Line and Airport Express route map

Route description

The Tung Chung Line, unlike most urban MTR lines, is mostly above ground, and unlike other MTR lines, which are approximately 15 km on average length, this line has a total length of just over 30 km. At the same time, most of the line runs along the Airport Express. The Tung Chung Line runs from the east to west. The line is underground from Hong Kong station and crosses the harbour to Kowloon Station. The line then emerges to the surface outside Olympian City 2, to reach Olympic Station at the surface.

After Olympic station, the line runs at ground level beneath the West Kowloon Expressway, stopping at Nam Cheong Station. Then, the line rises above the ground onto a viaduct, which is also built under the West Kowloon Expressway. The viaduct leads into a tunnel in the hills near Lai King. It emerges shortly at Lai King Station to provide cross platform interchange with the Tsuen Wan Line.

The line remains on viaduct past Lai King station, and crosses Rambler Channel on the Tsing Lai Bridge to Tsing Yi Island, where it enters Tsing Yi Station. Having passed Tsing Yi station, the line enters another tunnel through the hills of Tsing Yi. It travels on the Tsing Ma Bridge and the Kap Shui Mun Bridge, crossing Ma Wan island but no stops within the island.

Eventually, the line leaves the tunnel and travels on the surface along the North Lantau Expressway. It stops at Sunny Bay Station on the way. The line then shares tracks with the Airport Express before splitting from it just before it reaches Tung Chung New Town. Having re-entered the tunnel, the line terminates at Tung Chung Station, located underground.

With a displacement of over 10 km between Sunny Bay and Tung Chung, and no intermediate stations within this section of the track (other than the Siu Ho Wan depot), it takes about 8 minutes to travel between these stations. There are currently no intermediate stations within this section of the track because there are no suitable sites or facilities nearby.

Stations

The following is a list of all the stations on the Tung Chung Line. The coloured boxes holding the station names represent the unique colour motif for the station.

Livery and Name District Connection(s) Date opened
Tung Chung Line
Tung Chung Islands Ngong Ping 360 June 21, 1998[N 1]
Sunny Bay Tsuen Wan      Disneyland Resort Line June 1, 2005
Tsing Yi Kwai Tsing      Airport Express June 21, 1998[N 1]
Lai King      Tsuen Wan Line
Nam Cheong Sham Shui Po      West Rail Line December 20, 2003
Olympic Yau Tsim Mong June 21, 1998[N 1]
Kowloon      Airport Express
Hong Kong Central and Western      Airport Express
Central Station for      Tsuen Wan Line, and      Island Line
Notes
  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Ceremonial opening took place on 21 June 1998, while public opening occurred on 22 June 1998

Future development

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Main articles: North Island Line and Tung Chung West Station

The Tung Chung Line was designed to facilitate an extension from Hong Kong Station eastward. According to the Rail Projects Under Planning 2000 released by Hong Kong Highways Department, two new stations, Tamar Station, Exhibition Station and Causeway Bay North Station, will form part of the extension. The line will then connect North Point Station and merge into the Tseung Kwan O Line.

Residents of Yat Tung Estate have appealed to the government to extend the Tung Chung Line to Tung Chung West Station near Yat Tung to ease their transportation problems. Yat Tung currently has 40,000 residents. They claimed that when they moved in 11 years ago, the Housing Bureau's documents indicated a MTR station at the estate. The residents currently have to take a 10-minute bus journey to Tung Chung Station.[2]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ (traditional Chinese (HK))逸東邨居民要求建港鐵站 Wen Wei Po. 25 May 2011.
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