:linkText: Hong Kong Section

The HKSAR Government has announced to proceed with further planning and design of the Hong Kong Section of the Express Rail Link (XRL) in April 2008 and authorized the scheme in October 2009. The XRL will run on a dedicated corridor and will have its terminus at West Kowloon.

Proposed Express Rail Link (Hong Kong Section)
Please click here to enlarge the map

Background

The Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link is part of the strategic national express rail network that connects Hong Kong to the major cities in the Mainland, via stations at Futian in Shenzhen, Longhua (New Shenzhen), Humen in Dongguan and Shibi (New Guangzhou). It aims at providing a rapid and convenient high speed rail service.

With interchange stations at New Shenzhen and New Guangzhou, passengers from Hong Kong will be directly linked to the Hangzhou-Fuzhou-Shenzhen Passenger Line and Beijing-Guangzhou Passenger Line respectively.

Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link
Please click here to enlarge the map

Project Description

The proposed project scheme in Hong Kong comprises the underground West Kowloon Terminus (WKT), and a 26km-dedicated tunnel running from WKT to the Hong Kong / Shenzhen Boundary. There will be no intermediate station in the Hong Kong Section.

Programme

Gazettal under the Railways Ordinance

The XRL (Hong Kong Section) Project was gazetted under the Railways Ordinance on 28 November 2008 and the Gazette Amendment was published on 30 April 2009. In October 2009, the Government authorized the scheme of the XRL (Hong Kong Section) under the Railways Ordinance. Please visit the following link for details of the gazette:

http://www.hyd.gov.hk/eng/major/road/rail/xrl/gazettal/index.htm

Design Consideration

Different options were studied in fixing the alignment for the Hong Kong Section of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Line. Considerations were made on factors including the impacts of various options on the social community, infrastructures, existing structures, construction feasibility and railway operation along the alignment. The current conforming scheme which starts at West Kowloon aims to tie in with the connecting point in the Mainland with a straight alignment. The north alignment tries to produce the minimal impacts on the precious natural environmental resources and existing structures while the south alignment runs beneath the existing carriageways as much as possible to reduce the impacts on the existing structures.

Construction Method

The whole Hong Kong Section of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Line will be built in underground tunnels. The construction method depends on the existing geological profile. The tunnel will be constructed by tunnel boring machine (TBM) or drill and blast methods. In general, TBM will be adopted where the tunnel is in soft ground and drill and blast method will be used when the tunnel is in rock. For the construction of the West Kowloon Terminus, and Shek Kong Emergency Rescue and stabling sidings station, open cut excavation method will be used.

Most of the proposed tunnel sections will be at least 20m below the existing ground level. Therefore, the impacts on the existing residences, buildings and structures within the area are negligible.

West Kowloon Terminus

The West Kowloon Terminus with an area of about 11 hectares will be located at the north of the West Kowloon Cultural District (WKCD) between Austin Station and Kowloon Station. 9 long haul platforms and 6 shuttle platforms will be provided at the Terminus. Under the current planning, in early years of commencement of the Hong Kong section of the XRL, there will be 90 and 24 daily train pairs for shuttle services to the Shenzhen and Guangzhou areas respectively. Subject to the development of the national railway schedules, the 24 daily train pairs to 15 Mainland major cities will gradually be increased to 33 daily pairs to 16 major cities.

Other key information of WKT includes:

Intermodal Interchange

It will take less than 30 minutes to travel from the terminus to most areas of Hong Kong

• Interchange West Rail Line at Austin Station
• Interchange Tung Chung Line and Airport Express at Kowloon Station
• Route-3 Highway and the Western Harbour Crossing to Hong Kong Island, Kowloon, the western part of the New Territories and Lantau
• Planned Central Kowloon Route will connect West Kowloon with the Kai Tak development and Tseung Kwan O
• Public Transport Interchange (PTI) and coach parking facilities will be located at the north of WKT

Pedestrian Connectivity

A network of pedestrian links including footbridges, subways and plaza deck over Austin Road West connecting WKT, MTR Kowloon Station, MTR Austin Station, the WKCD site

Public Greenery Open Space

• The underground terminus will allow ample public open space on the ground level with a barrier-free urban park
• The green area will connect to the WKCD pedestrian deck at the south through Austin Road West and extended by footbridges over Jordon Road to the landscape above the Public Transport Interchange at the north

Terminus Facilities

The underground terminus composes of 4 floor levels which accommodates Customs facilities, Immigration and Quarantine (CIQ) facilities, departure waiting lounges, underground track area and platforms, passenger arrival and departure halls, duty free, food and beverage facilities, station parking and loading facilities etc.

Shek Kong Emergency Rescue and stabling sidings Station

Emergency Rescue Station (ERS)： For emergency rescue and escape, proposed to be located in a flat land area between stations of West Kowloon and Futian.

Stabling sidings Station： For daily maintenance, cleaning, and overnight parking. Due to the need to maintain the required frequency of train services and the limited space in the West Kowloon Terminus; an alternative site has to be identified for the stabling sidings station.

Shek Kong Emergency Rescue and stabling sidings Station

Estimated Journey Time

The XRL will provide shuttle and long haul services between the terminus in West Kowloon to various destinations in the Mainland. The anticipated annual patronage will be approximately 40 million in year 2030.

Shuttle Service

Long Haul Service

Funding Arrangement

Concession approach is adopted for the project with funding provided by the Government for its construction.

Benefits

The XRL will create value to Hong Kong in monetary and non-monetary terms. The benefits include:

• Significant strategic value in connecting Hong Kong to the national express rail network;
• Travelling time savings generated by a fast and reliable railway service;
• Environmental benefits (air and noise) brought about by a reduction in road traffic;
• Allow Hong Kong to have better social and economic integration with cities in the Pearl River Delta as well as other major cities in the Mainland.
• Enhance sustainable development of Hong Kong.
• Environmentally friendly mean of transportation.
• Creation of 11,000 employment opportunities during construction and another 10,000 in its operation.

Frequently Asked Questions

1) What is the patronage forecast?

According the patronage forecast, it is envisaged that by year 2030, there will be an annual patronage of approx. 40 million.

2) Why adopted dedicated corridor instead of shared corridor?

The Shared Corridor Option (SCO) has been re-assessed in the light of latest planning parameter and system data from the Mainland. The SCO will not be able to meet the service requirement envisaged by 2016 and extensive modifications to the existing railway line will unavoidably disrupt the daily operations of the West Rail Line. In addition, operating constraints will be induced on both WRL and XRL that would compromise the service level and operation efficiency of both lines.

3) Why there is no intermediate railway station in the New Territories?

The purpose of the link is to better integrate Hong Kong with the Mainland. Majority of the people traveling to HK will go to the city centre for shopping or business. In addition, having additional intermediate stations will significantly increase the journey time from the terminus at West Kowloon to the Mainland, which will defeat the purpose of having express rail services.

4) Will there be a depot for the maintenance of XRL trains? Where will it be?

The main maintenance facilities for XRL trains will likely be located in the Mainland. For the Hong Kong Section of the XRL, a stabling sidings and maintenance facility will be located at Shek Kong to provide stabling, maintenance and cleaning activities.

5) Will the XRL (Hong Kong Section) be completed later than the Mainland section?

The Mainland section of XRL from Guangzhou to Shenzhen will be completed around 2011 with the terminal station at Futian. The Hong Kong Section will be fast tracked with a target completion by year 2015. The completion date of XRL from Beijing to Guangzhou will be completed around 2012.

6) Are there any rooms of adjusting the XRL alignment?

During the alignment design stage, different alignment schemes were reviewed and investigated. The design was based on several considerations: adopting the shortest possible distance to connect to the Mainland connecting point, making reference to the preliminary geological findings and avoiding existing buildings to minimize land resumption. The existing scheme has the least impact to the society as a whole.

7) Why proposed the alignment underground? Has consideration been given to the residents living on top?

The underground dedicated railway tunnel aims at minimizing land resumption. The construction of tunnel will adopt tunnel boring machine to minimize impact to the residence living on top.

8) The XRL is constructed underground, is safety issue addressed?

The main vision of MTR is to be a world-class safety management services provider and this is the main consideration when we design our alignment. The emergency rescue and siding stabling station is proposed to be located in Shek Kong between Futian and the West Kowloon. This ERS is for emergency rescue and escape. It provides the Fire Fighters with the quickest means of access to the tunnel. Wherever there are two separate tunnels, cross emergency access routes are designed to allow passengers to escape to another tunnel through emergency exits along the tunnel.

9) Is there any design standard for Ventilation Building?

Ventilation Building will be required for air exchange for every section of tunnel of a specific length. Ventilation Building will not emit any exhausted gases; therefore will not have any impact to the neighbourhood. In addition, the noise generated by the Ventilation building will be monitored and need to comply with the statutory requirements.

The design of the ventilation will be aesthetically pleasing so as to blend in with the local environment.

10) What is the fare system of the future XRL?

It is yet to be discussed with the relevant parties in the Mainland. In considering the fares, factors including the economic situation, operating condition, public affordability, market competition as well as the nature of the trips were taken into account with a view to providing value for money service to the passengers.

11) Will there be competition between XRL and the existing East Rail Line？

When XRL is in operation, the current fare and operation system of the existing through train of intercity passenger services will be reviewed. MTR will closely monitor the service level ensuring the highest quality of service will be provided. In addition, when the XRL is connected to the new development areas in Guangzhou and further connected to the express rail network in the Mainland, it will enhance the existing intercity rail system.