Tai Lam Tunnel

Tai Lam Tunnel
Tai Lam Tunnel
Part of Route 3 (Country Park Section)
Route information
	Maintained by Highways Department
Length	3.8 km (2.4 mi)
History	Built 1998
Major junctions
South end	Ting Kau
North end	Kam Tin (near Ma On Kong)
Highway system
	Transport in Hong Kong; Routes; Roads and Streets;

Tai Lam Tunnel
	Entrance of Tai Lam Tunnel in June 2019
Overview
Coordinates	Coordinates: 22°23′42″N 114°03′39″E / 22.394999°N 114.060831°E
Status	Active
System	Part of Route 3
Start	Ting Kau
End	Kam Tin
Operation
Opened	25 May 1998; 23 years ago
Owner	Hong Kong Government
Operator	Route 3 (CPS) Company
Traffic	Vehicular
Vehicles per day	140000
Technical
Length	3.8 kilometres (2.4 mi)
No. of lanes	6 lanes (3 lanes per direction)
Operating speed	70 kilometres per hour (43 mph)

Tai Lam Tunnel (Chinese: 大欖隧道), running along Tsing Long Highway, is part of Route 3 Country Park Section (R3CPS) and is a transport link between the western New Territories in Ting Kau and Yuen Long.

Tai Lam Tunnel was constructed to ease traffic congestion at Tuen Mun Road, Tate's Cairn Tunnel and Castle Peak Road, and to link traffic directly from New Territories West to urban areas of Kowloon West and Hong Kong Island, the Hong Kong International Airport and the Kwai Tsing Container Terminals. Located adjacent to the boundary crossings of Lok Ma Chau and Shenzhen Bay, it connects smoothly with Shenzhen and Guangzhou for serving both cross-boundary passenger services and cargo logistics.

Toll area[]

Tai Lam Tunnel is a 3.8 km (2.4 mi) dual 3-lane tunnel. The total length of the R3CPS (the tolled area) is 10.1 km (6.3 mi).

The tolled area, with two entrances/exits at the south end, Ting Kau Bridge and Tuen Mun Road at Ting Kau, crosses Tai Lam Country Park to its north end at Pat Heung.

Located at Pat Heung and about 1 km (0.62 mi) from the north tunnel portal, the toll plaza consists of 22 tollbooths, 16 of which are for manual tolls and 6 are Autotoll lanes.

Construction and operation[]

Tai Lam Tunnel is a Build-Operate-Transfer (B.O.T) project with a franchise period of 30 years (including construction period). (Cap 474 s2 on "franchise period")^{[citation needed]} Its total construction cost was HK$7.25 billion.^{[citation needed]} Construction on Tai Lam Tunnel started on 13 March 1995 and was officially opened to traffic on 25 May 1998^[1] to match with the opening of the new Hong Kong International Airport.

The designed traffic capacity of Tai Lam Tunnel is 140,000 vehicles per day.^{[citation needed]} In 2011/2012, the average daily traffic was over 54,000 vehicles.^[2]

According to the statistics from the Transport Department of the Government of Hong Kong, Tai Lam Tunnel has higher-than-average safety records. In 2011, the accident rate per million vehicle-km was just 0.07.^[3]

Tunnel tolls[]

The tunnel is well known for its high tolls similar as the Western Harbour Crossing. Its toll for private cars is HK$48,^[4] making it the second most expensive tunnel in Hong Kong; the most expensive is the Western Harbour Crossing at HK$75. For coaches, it is the highest in the city, about 4 times higher than the longer Tate's Cairn Tunnel.

Category	Vehicle	Standard toll (HK$)	Concessionary toll (current)^[5]^[6]
1	Motorcycle	60	22
2	Private car	65	48
2	Taxi	65	48
3	Private light bus	180	100
4	Light goods vehicle (less than 5.5 tonnes)	180	49
5	Medium goods vehicle (5.5 to 24 tonnes)	190	55
6	Heavy goods vehicle (more than 24 tonnes)	210	60
7	Single-decker bus	180	143
8	Double-decker bus	195	168
	Additional axle	70	Free

Environmental protection and sustainable measures[]

The tunnel company performed compensatory tree planting at a rate of three replacement saplings for each tree felled. In total, 250,000 trees, 150,000 shrubs and 60,000 climbing plants were planted during the construction period.

As to conservation of wildlife, there is a small tunnel constructed at the south portal of Tai Lam Tunnel, mainly for small wild animals in this area to commute in the valley freely, allowing them to maintain their habituation.

To keep in pace with technology development, Tai Lam Tunnel has gradually replaced traditional light bulbs with light-emitting diodes (LEDs). The indicator lighting signals inside the tunnel tubes and at the toll plaza as well as the illuminating system in the administration building have thus been replaced for reducing carbon emission.

References[]

^ "Monthly Traffic and Transport Digest July 2012 - Tunnel, Lantau Link and Vehicular Ferry Services Statistics: Tai Lam Tunnel" (PDF). Transport Department of the Government of Hong Kong. July 2012. Retrieved 24 September 2012.
^ "Route 3 Country Park Section Toll Adjustment" (PDF). Route 3 (CPS) Company Limited. 24 December 2012. Retrieved 25 February 2015.
^ "Road traffic accidents in tunnels by tunnel and severity 2011" (PDF). Transport Department of the Government of Hong Kong. Retrieved 24 September 2012.
^ https://www.td.gov.hk/en/transport_in_hong_kong/tunnels_and_bridges/toll_rates_of_road_tunnels_and_lantau_link/index.html
^ "Route 3 (CPS) Company Limited - Tolls and Other Fees". Route 3 (CPS) Company Limited. Archived from the original on 7 January 2013. Retrieved 24 September 2012.
^ "Transport Department - Tunnels and Bridges". Transport Department of the Government of Hong Kong. Archived from the original on 11 January 2013. Retrieved 3 November 2012.

External links[]

Route 3 (CPS) Company Limited

Preceded by Ting Kau Bridge	Hong Kong Route 3 Tai Lam Tunnel	Succeeded by Tsing Long Highway

[Stat1-1] "Monthly Traffic and Transport Digest July 2012 - Tunnel, Lantau Link and Vehicular Ferry Services Statistics: Tai Lam Tunnel" (PDF). Transport Department of the Government of Hong Kong. July 2012. Retrieved 24 September 2012.

[2] "Route 3 Country Park Section Toll Adjustment" (PDF). Route 3 (CPS) Company Limited. 24 December 2012. Retrieved 25 February 2015.

[3] "Road traffic accidents in tunnels by tunnel and severity 2011" (PDF). Transport Department of the Government of Hong Kong. Retrieved 24 September 2012.

[4] ttps://www.td.gov.hk/en/transport_in_hong_kong/tunnels_and_bridges/toll_rates_of_road_tunnels_and_lantau_link/index.html

[5] "Route 3 (CPS) Company Limited - Tolls and Other Fees". Route 3 (CPS) Company Limited. Archived from the original on 7 January 2013. Retrieved 24 September 2012.

[6] "Transport Department - Tunnels and Bridges". Transport Department of the Government of Hong Kong. Archived from the original on 11 January 2013. Retrieved 3 November 2012.

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show v t Major road tunnels in Hong Kong
On Hong Kong Island	Aberdeen Tunnel Central–Wan Chai Bypass Tunnel
Crossings of Victoria Harbour	Cross-Harbour Tunnel Eastern Harbour Crossing Western Harbour Crossing
In Kowloon and New Kowloon	Central Kowloon Route Kai Tak Tunnel
Between New Kowloon and the New Territories	Eagle's Nest Tunnel and Sha Tin Heights Tunnel^[α] Lion Rock Tunnel Tate's Cairn Tunnel Tseung Kwan O Tunnel^[α] Tseung Kwan O-Lam Tin Tunnel
In the New Territories	Airport Tunnel Cheung Shan Tunnel Cheung Tsing Tunnel Discovery Bay Tunnel Lung Shan Tunnel Nam Wan Tunnel Scenic Hill Tunnel Shing Mun Tunnels Tai Lam Tunnel Tai Wai Tunnel Tuen Mun–Chek Lap Kok Link (Northern Connection)
α. ^ ^a ^b Entirely in the New Territories, but all access roads on one side pass through Kowloon. Italics indicate that a tunnel is under construction.