Tung Chung line

Tung Chung line 東涌綫
A Tung Chung line A-train approaching Sunny Bay station, bound for Hong Kong
Overview
Locale	Districts: Central and Western, Yau Tsim Mong, Sham Shui Po, Kwai Tsing, Tsuen Wan, Islands
Termini	Hong Kong Tung Chung
Stations	8
Service
Type	Commuter Rail
System	MTR
Depot(s)	Siu Ho Wan
Rolling stock	Adtranz–CAF EMU Rotem EMU
Ridership	236,900 daily average (weekdays, September 2014)[1]
History
Opened	21 June 1998; 23 years ago (1998-06-21)
Technical
Line length	31.1 km (19.3 mi)
Track gauge	1,432 mm (4 ft 8+3⁄8 in)
Electrification	1.5 kV DC
Operating speed	135 km/h (84 mph)
Route map Legend Tseung Kwan O line (NIL) to Po Lam or LOHAS Park Tamar      Tsuen Wan line to Tsuen Wan Island line to Chai Wan Central           Hong Kong      Island line to Kennedy Town Victoria Harbour Kowloon      (W. Kowloon) Olympic Tuen Ma line to Wu Kai Sha Nam Cheong      Tuen Ma line to Tuen Mun Tsuen Wan line to Central Lai King      Tsuen Wan line to Tsuen Wan Tsing Lai Bridge Tsing Yi      Tsing Ma Bridge Kap Shui Mun Bridge Disneyland Resort line to Disneyland Resort Sunny Bay      Siu Ho Wan depot Tung Chung East Airport Express to AsiaWorld–Expo Tung Chung (Cable Car) Tung Chung West This diagram: view talk

Tung Chung line
Traditional Chinese	東涌綫
Simplified Chinese	东涌线
Literal meaning	East (of a) branch of a river line
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Dōngchōng xiàn Yue: Cantonese Yale Romanization dūng chūng sin Jyutping dung1 cung1 sin3

The Tung Chung line is one of the ten lines of the MTR system in Hong Kong, linking the town of Tung Chung with central Hong Kong. A part of the Tung Chung line was built along with the Kap Shui Mun Bridge and the Tsing Ma Bridge. The line currently travels through eight stations in 31 minutes along its route. The line is coloured orange on the map.

History[]

In October 1989, the Hong Kong government announced plans to build a new airport on the remote island of Chek Lap Kok to replace the overcrowded Kai Tak International Airport at the heart of Kowloon.

As part of the initiative, the government invited the MTR Corporation to build a rail link to the new airport dubbed the Lantau Airport Railway. The project initially saw opposition from the Chinese government as it feared the construction would drain the monetary reserve of the Hong Kong government and leave the Chinese with nothing after the British handed the territory over in 1997.

Both the Chinese and British governments reached an agreement and construction commenced in November 1994.

The Lantau Airport rail link consists of two train lines, the Tung Chung line and the Airport Express. Both lines deploy the same rolling stock with minor differences in interior fittings and liveries.

On 21 June 1998, the Tung Chung line was officially opened by 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 between the Tung Chung line and soon to be opened West Rail line. The station then closed on 19 December 2003 in preparation for the opening of the new West Rail line, and it was officially opened to public on 20 December 2003. Since then, the number of cars per train has increased from seven to eight to accommodate the additional patronage.

Sunny Bay station opened on 1 June 2005 as an interchange for the Disneyland Resort line. The resort opened its door two months after the station became operational.

Between 2006 and 2007, four new trains entered service to improve service frequency. The first train was delivered on 9 February 2006 and entered service on 12 June 2006. Modifications were added to the platforms to accommodate the new trains, which are a few millimetres wider than the original rolling stock.

Route map[]

MTR Tung Chung line and Airport Express route map

Route description[]

Unlike most other railway lines in the system, the Tung Chung line travels mostly above ground and spans a greater distance. The line shares its trackage with the Airport Express before diverging in Tung Chung.

The line travels underground from Hong Kong station to Kowloon station across the harbour, then surfaces to the ground to reach Olympic station. Trains continue to travel above ground along the West Kowloon Expressway and stops at Nam Cheong station, followed by Lai King station on a viaduct. Thereafter the line crosses the Rambler Channel and stops at Tsing Yi station on Tsing Yi Island.

Trains then enter a tunnel through the hills of the island and continues on the Tsing Ma Bridge and the Kap Shui Mun Bridge onto Lantau Island. The line continues along the North Lantau Expressway and stops at Sunny Bay before terminating at Tung Chung. The distance between the two stops is roughly 10 km and takes approximately 6 minutes to complete.

Some outbound trains do not continue to Lantau but terminate at Tsing Yi station due to the capacity constraint of the Tsing Ma Bridge which only allows one train to pass at all times.^[2]

• 

  A Tung Chung line A-train at Sunny Bay station as viewed from the footbridge

• 

  A Tung Chung line K-train approaching Sunny Bay station, bound for Hong Kong

• 

  Exterior of Tung Chung station

• 

  Upper platform level of Lai King station

• 

  Nam Cheong station; interchange with West Rail line

• 

  Olympic station concourse

• 

  Kowloon station, Tung Chung line platform

• 

  Hong Kong station, Tung Chung line platform

Stations[]

The following is a list of the stations on the Tung Chung line.

Livery and Station Name			Connections	Opening date	District
English		Chinese
	Hong Kong	香港	Airport Express Central station for      Tsuen Wan line and      Island line	22 June 1998	Central and Western
	Kowloon	九龍	Airport Express		Yau Tsim Mong
	Olympic	奧運
	Nam Cheong	南昌	Tuen Ma line	20 December 2003	Sham Shui Po
	Lai King	茘景	Tsuen Wan line	10 May 1982 (Tsuen Wan line) 22 June 1998 (Tung Chung line)	Kwai Tsing
	Tsing Yi	青衣	Airport Express	22 June 1998
	Sunny Bay	欣澳	Disneyland Resort line	1 June 2005	Tsuen Wan
	Tung Chung	東涌	Ngong Ping Cable Car	22 June 1998	Islands

Design limitations[]

At the time when the then colonial administration announced its plans to build the airport rail link, the Chinese government voiced concerns of the project's significant capital outgoings. In 1994, a few years before the handover, both British and Chinese governments reached an agreement on the conditions of the following cost saving measures:^[3]

• The airport rail link was originally designed to accommodate four tracks, two each for the Airport Express and Tung Chung line. It was later reduced to two tracks where both services share the same trackage. As a result, signal failures can affect both services.
• Reduction in train traffic capacity on the Tsing Ma Bridge, Ma Wan Viaduct, and Kap Shui Mun Bridge means only one train can travel on either direction in any given time. The minimum headway between trains comes to 2 minutes 15 seconds, and stops some Tung Chung line services from crossing the bridges into Lantau and terminate at Tsing Yi.
• Because the signalling system is not capable of giving priority to the limited-stop Airport Express trains, some Tung Chung line trains would sometimes stop at Sunny Bay Station for an extended period of time to allow faster Airport Express trains to pass through without stopping before resuming their journeys.
• The power supply system restricts the number of trains running between Kowloon and Lai King stations. The system can accommodate a maximum of one Airport Express train and two Tung Chung trains travelling in both directions at one time. The minimum headway on this section of the line is 3 minutes 30 seconds.

Future development[]

Island extension[]

Once the North Island line is complete, trains will travel in a tunnel east of Hong Kong station along the shore of the island before merging into the Tseung Kwan O line at North Point. Three new stations - Tamar, Exhibition Centre and Causeway Bay North will form part of the extension.

Tung Chung Line Extension[]

In April 2020, Carrie Lam and the Executive Council approved the detailed planning and design of the Tung Chung Line Extension project. It is scheduled to begin construction in 2023, while the cost of the two new Stations, Tung Chung East and Tung Chung West, are expected to cost HK$18.7 billion. This extension is expected to be complete by 2029.^[4][5]

Track Extension near Hong Kong station[]

Meanwhile, an underground tunnel, around half a km long, will be built eastwards of Hong Kong station to allow Tung Chung Line and Airport Express trains to turn around, allowing the trains to easily switch directions, thus enhancing the efficiency of operations.

The project is expected to extend the line an additional 1.5 kilometers. The contract for the extension was recently awarded to British engineering companies Arup and Atkins.^{[citation needed]}

See also[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Tung Chung line.

• List of places in Hong Kong
• Transport in Hong Kong

References[]