Tung Chung line

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.

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]

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  Tung Chung line Train at Sunny Bay station
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  Tung Chung line A-Stock Train
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  Tung Chung line K-Stock Train
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  Tung Chung line K-Stock Train
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  Exterior of Tung Chung station
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  Upper platform level of Lai King station

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  Nam Cheong station; interchange with West Rail line
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  Olympic station concourse
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  Kowloon station, Tung Chung line platform
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  Hong Kong station, Tung Chung line platform

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

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.

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• List of areas of Hong Kong
• Transport in Hong Kong