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Tseung Kwan O line

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Tseung Kwan O line
將軍澳綫
Platforms of LOHAS Park station.
Overview
StatusOperational
OwnerMTR Corporation
LocaleDistricts: Sai Kung, Kwun Tong, Eastern
Termini
  • ‹See TfM›Po Lam / ‹See TfM›LOHAS Park
  • ‹See TfM›North Point
Connecting lines
Stations8
Color on map     Purple (#7D499D)
Service
TypeRapid transit
SystemMTR
Operator(s)MTR Corporation
Depot(s)Kowloon Bay (2002-2009) Tseung Kwan O
Rolling stock
Ridership333,300 daily average
(weekdays, September 2014)[1]
History
Opened4 August 2002; 22 years ago (2002-08-04)
Last extension26 July 2009; 15 years ago (2009-07-26) (‹See TfM›LOHAS Park)
Technical
Line length12.3 km (7.6 mi)
Number of tracksDouble-track
Track gauge1,432 mm (4 ft 8+38 in)
Electrification1,500 V DC (Overhead lines)
Operating speed
  • Average: 33 km/h (21 mph)
  • Maximum: 80 km/h (50 mph)[2]
SignallingAdvanced SelTrac CBTC (2028/2029)
Train protection system
Route map

Tamar
Exhibition Centre     
Causeway Bay North
Current turnback siding
North Point     
Quarry Bay     
Yau Tong     
Track connections
(unused in regular service)
Tiu Keng Leng     
Tseung Kwan O
Hang Hau
Po Lam
Tseung Kwan O depot
LOHAS Park
Tseung Kwan O line
Traditional Chinese將軍澳綫
Simplified Chinese将军澳线
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinJiāngjūn'ào xiàn
Yue: Cantonese
Yale Romanizationjēung gwān ou sin
Jyutpingzoeng1 gwan1 ou3 sin3

The Tseung Kwan O line (Chinese: 將軍澳綫) is one of the ten lines of the MTR system in Hong Kong, indicated by the colour purple. It is currently 12.3 kilometres (7.6 mi) long, taking 15 minutes to travel throughout the entire line.

The line runs from North Point on the Hong Kong Island to the new town of Tseung Kwan O. It bifurcates east of Tseung Kwan O station into two branches, one northward to Po Lam and one southward to LOHAS Park. The Tseung Kwan O Depot at LOHAS Park is responsible for the maintenance of the line's rolling stock.

During the morning peak period, the Tseung Kwan O line uses 15 trains to maintain a frequency of 2.5 minutes between Tseung Kwan O and North Point.

Route map

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Geographically accurate map of the Tseung Kwan O line

Route description

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The Tseung Kwan O line is the first MTR line with no tracks on viaducts. It was the only line with tracks completely in tunnels until the completion of LOHAS Park station, which there are two short sections nearby that are not in tunnels. The stations of Yau Tong, Po Lam and LOHAS Park are at ground level, but are completely shielded to minimise noise to the surrounding development. The rest of the line has its tracks located underground.

The western terminus of the line is North Point, providing cross-platform interchange with the Island line. However, the next station, Quarry Bay, still interchanges with the Island Line but does not provide such a cross-platform interchange. East of Quarry Bay, the line passes under Victoria Harbour to Yau Tong station, a station serving the East Kowloon neighbourhood of the same name, using the rail tunnel of the Eastern Harbour Crossing. From Yau Tong, the line passes through the Black Hill Tunnels to enter Tseung Kwan O New Town at Tiu Keng Leng.

Within Tseung Kwan O new town, the line splits into two branches east of Tseung Kwan O station. One branch reaches Hang Hau and Po Lam stations in the northern part of the new town, whereas the southward branch connects LOHAS Park station in Area 86. LOHAS Park is a large residential development built above the Tseung Kwan O Depot, where the trains of the line are maintained.

Train operations

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Rotem EMU train traveling through the LOHAS Park portal

Operation of the line is relatively complex because of the split into two branches at Tseung Kwan O.

The majority of trains on the line run through from Po Lam to North Point and vice versa. Through service between LOHAS Park and North Point is only provided during rush hour; during non-peak periods, LOHAS Park is only served by "shuttle trains" that terminate at Tiu Keng Leng, operating at 12-minute intervals. Passengers travelling to and from LOHAS Park during non-peak hours are required to change trains at Tiu Keng Leng or Tseung Kwan O in order to continue their journey.

Train headways are as follows:

  • Rush hour: One through train to/from LOHAS Park after two trains to/from Po Lam
    • North Point - Po Lam trains: every 2.5 or 4 minutes
    • North Point - LOHAS Park trains: every 7–8 minutes
    • combined headway between North Point and Tseung Kwan O is 2.5 minutes.
  • Non-peak period:
    • Mon-Fri, Sat (10:00-20:00) and Sun (09:00-20:00)
      • North Point - Po Lam trains: every 4 minutes
      • Tiu Keng Leng - LOHAS Park shuttle trains: every 12 minutes
      • No through service from LOHAS Park to North Point, vice versa
    • Every day between 20:00 and 00:00
      • North Point - Po Lam trains: every 5 minutes
      • Tiu Keng Leng - LOHAS Park shuttle trains: every 12 minutes
      • No through service from LOHAS Park to North Point, vice versa
    • Every day after 00:00
      • North Point to Po Lam trains: every 6 minutes
      • Po Lam to North Point trains: every 8–9 minutes
      • Tiu Keng Leng - LOHAS Park shuttle trains: every 12 minutes

History

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The Tseung Kwan O line was planned to serve the new town of Tseung Kwan O and was first proposed in 1981 as part of the Junk Bay New Town Transport Study.[4] The report proposed four corridors, all of which called for the Kwun Tong line to be extended to Lam Tin station and placed the terminus of the Tseung Kwan O line at the vicinity of Tsui Ping Estate.[5] The construction cost was estimated at HK$3 billion.[6] The construction of the Tseung Kwan O line was approved by the Hong Kong Government in 1985 and under the 1985 plan, a 7 km (4.3 mi) branch line from Lam Tin station to Tseung Kwan O station, consisting of 5 or 6 stations, was to be built beginning in 1992 and to open by the end of 1996.[7] This plan was cancelled by the MTR Corporation in August 1990.[8]

MTR re-proposed the line in 1993, and the plan was approved by the Hong Kong Executive Council on 20 October 1998. Construction commenced on 24 April 1999 and the line opened on 18 August 2002, at a cost of HK$18 billion.[9] The new line took over the cross-harbour segment, via the Eastern Harbour Crossing to North Point station, from the Kwun Tong line. The Kwun Tong line was extended to Yau Tong and Tiu Keng Leng stations to interchange with the new line.

Realignment of Kwun Tong line upon the inauguration of Tseung Kwan O line

Trains

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The line is served by the K-Stock and M-Trains. The K-Stock trains were manufactured by a consortium of Hyundai Rotem and Mitsubishi Corporation, and were expected to be quieter and to use energy generated from deceleration.

Although tailor-made for the line, the K-Stock trains actually ran on the Kwun Tong line temporarily from launch through April 2010, and the original M-Trains ran on this line instead. The K-Stock trains were finally transferred to this line in April 2010.

MTR Tseung Kwan O line Rolling stock
Model Manufactured Time of manufacturing Sets Assembly Notes
M-Train Metro-Cammell 1977-1986
1989-1995
7 A-C+D+B-C+D+C-A
K-Train Rotem and Mitsubishi 2001-2002 13 A-C-B+B-C+B-C-A
MTR Tseung Kwan O line Former rolling stock
Model Manufactured Time in manufacturing Sets Assembly Notes
C-Train CNR Changchun 2010-2013 N/A A-C-B+B-C+B-C-A now used on Kwun Tong line

Stations

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This is a list of the stations on the Tseung Kwan O line.

List

Service Livery Station Name Images Interchange;
Adjacent transportation
Opening District
English Chinese
Tseung Kwan O Line (TKL)
North Point 北角 Island line towards Kennedy Town 27 September 2001;
23 years ago[a]
Eastern
Quarry Bay 鰂魚涌 Island line towards Chai Wan 6 August 1989;
35 years ago[a]
Yau Tong 油塘 Kwun Tong line 4 August 2002;
22 years ago
Kwun Tong
Tiu Keng Leng 調景嶺 18 August 2002;
22 years ago
Sai Kung
Tseung Kwan O 將軍澳
| Hang Hau 坑口
| Po Lam 寶琳
LOHAS Park Branch Line
LOHAS Park 康城 26 July 2009;
15 years ago
Sai Kung

Notes

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  1. ^ a b Originally opened as part of the Kwun Tong line.

Future development

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The Tseung Kwan O line will probably be extended to Tamar station and interchange with an extended Tung Chung line there. This is according to the "interchange scheme" devised for the North Island line, which would also see the line serve stations at Fortress Hill, Causeway Bay North and Exhibition Centre, the latter of which would provide a connection with the Sha Tin to Central Link extension of the North South Corridor (East Rail Line to Admiralty). Construction is not expected to begin before 2021.

Under an earlier proposal, called the "swap scheme", the line would have taken over the section of the Island line from Fortress Hill to Kennedy Town; with the remaining section east of Tin Hau being transferred to the Tung Chung line. This was rejected as the existing Island line would be interrupted and require an interchange.

In the Chief Executive's 2022 Policy Address, it was announced that the Tseung Kwan O line would be extended southwards to Tseung Kwan O Area 137, an 80 hectare plot of land the Development Bureau has identified suitable for the development of 50,000 new housing units. Area 137 is expected to take in new populations in 2030, but there has been no expected timeline for the completion of the extensions or the opening of the new station.[10][11]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Weekday patronage of MTR heavy rail network from September 1 to 27 and September 28 to October 25, 2014" (PDF). Legislative Council. 29 October 2014. Archived (PDF) from the original on 15 May 2021. Retrieved 15 April 2015.
  2. ^ "Business Overview" (PDF). MTR. July 2021. p. 6. Archived (PDF) from the original on 30 December 2019. Retrieved 8 August 2022.
  3. ^ "Annual Report 2021" (PDF). MTR Corporation. 10 March 2022. p. 22. Archived (PDF) from the original on 10 October 2022. Retrieved 6 August 2022. In 2021, we continued with the project to replace the existing signalling system ("SACEM System") on our four urban lines (Island, Tseung Kwan O, Kwun Tong and Tsuen Wan lines).
  4. ^ 《Junk Bay New Town Transport Study·RAIL TRANSPORT - ALTERNATIVE ALIGNMENTS》
  5. ^ 《Junk Bay New Town Transport Study· POSSIBLE MASS TRANSPORT ACCESS ROUTES》
  6. ^ "支線全長約七公里 將有五至六個車站 經藍田調景嶺填海區直達將軍澳 近三十三萬人口保證乘客量足夠". Page 5 of Ta Kung Pao. 25 December 1987.(in Chinese)
  7. ^ "李敦接受記者訪問表示 地鐵建將軍澳支線 財政安排正待批准 如獲港府批准將於九二年動工". Page 5 of Ta Kung Pao. 25 December 1987.(in Chinese)
  8. ^ "地鐵已明確表態不興建將軍澳支線". Page 1 of Wah Kiu Yat Po (華僑日報). 27 August 1990.(in Chinese)
  9. ^ "地鐵支線通車 市民「趁熱鬧」 爭搭頭班車千人大混亂". Apple Daily. 19 August 2002. Archived from the original on 1 May 2015. Retrieved 15 May 2014.(in Chinese)
  10. ^ Liu, Oscar (24 October 2022). "Hong Kong Authorities to prioritise Tseung Kwan O rail line's extension over other mega projects, but no timeline yet for new plans' completion". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 7 November 2022.
  11. ^ Lee, Peter (19 October 2022). "Hong Kong Policy Address: New rail link among 6 major infrastructure projects, public transport subsidy extended". Hong Kong Free Press. Retrieved 7 November 2022.
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