SAR must boldly seize high-speed opportunity
With XRL as a start, Hong Kong can transform from outlier to fully fledged transport hub, writes Thomas Chan
The Hong Kong section of the Guangzhou-ShenzhenHong Kong Express Rail Link, which will come into operation on Sept 23, is widely regarded as an important milestone for Hong Kong’s development. It symbolizes a step into an era of high-speed rail development that establishes connection with the counterpart network on the mainland. Although trains on the Hong Kong section only run at a speed of 200 kilometers per hour — which is equivalent to that of a multiple-unit train on the mainland and is far from the maximum operating speed (350 km/h) and the initial operating speed (300 km/h) on the mainland section of XRL — the lower speed is compensated by a relatively short distance of 26 kilometers on the Hong Kong section, which implies that the impact on the entire journey will be minimal.
Upon the commission of the Hong Kong section, the MTR will be able to gather experience in operating, maintaining and managing the XRL. This will not only pave the path for establishing connectivity with other high-speed railway systems on the mainland, the company can also draw on this experience to enhance and improve the railway system in Hong Kong.
The railway network in Hong Kong has been well-managed since inception, but stagnant progression in its technology and operating system has gradually put our rail transport behind the curve. Apart from the overcrowding issue observed in many stations that leads to the decline in service quality, the rail lines are also not seamlessly linked together. Many questions can be raised in this regard. For instance, why do passengers on the Ma On Shan Line have to take transit at Tai Wai Station, instead of commuting directly via the East Rail Line southbound to Kowloon or northbound to Lo Wu or Lok Ma Chau? Furthermore, there is plenty of room for improvement on speed of the MTR train.
The MTR Corporation can draw on overseas cases in connecting the route of subways and intercity rail, study the possibility of introducing train services that directly connect Lo Wu or Lok Ma Chau on the East Rail Line and Tuen Mun on the West Rail Line, or create a long haul train route that directly runs from the north to Tung Chung. The technology for connecting different rail lines is readily available; our city will just need to build the facilities to establish a well-connected train network that will optimize railway development in Hong Kong.
Likewise, the Guangzhou-Kowloon Through Train can be modified according to the knowledge gained by operating the Hong Kong section of the XRL, such that the trains will match the speed of a multiple-unit train. Stations such as Sheung Shui, Lo Wu and Dongguan can also be added so as to keep pace with the high-speed rail development in Hong Kong.
By the time the Hong Kong section of the XRL is open to traffic, we may also consider constructing other high-speed rail links, such as a new line departing from the airport, via either Tuen Mun and the Western Corridor, or Yuen Long, and eventually terminate at Shenzhen. Passengers will then be connected to the intercity rail in Shenzhen. Additionally, we can tackle the issue with regards to the under-capacity of the East Rail Line by examining the feasibility of adding of a high-speed rail line along the route, which will provide through-train services to Sha Tau Kok via Tolo Harbor-Ma On Shan and Pat Sin Leng. This rail line can then hook up to the railway network in the eastern part of Shenzhen, which is expanding eastward to link up with coastal high-speed rail lines in Chaozhou, Fujian, Jiangsu and Zhejiang; it can also connect to the northbound intercity rail in Huizhou.
As Hong Kong is at the juncture of a new wave of high-speed rail development, we should not remain obsessed with the railway model of the 19th century, nor entrap ourselves by the colonial thinking of alienation from the Chinese mainland. Until Sept 23, the highspeed railways connect the entire country with the exception of Hong Kong, which at present sits on the margin of the rail network of the country and closely resembles the Pearl River Delta preceding the era of rapid high-speed rail development. However, the full-fledged high-speed rail development in the Pearl River Delta has successfully turned itself into a principal railway hub on the mainland. Currently, seven high-speed rail links are either completed or under construction in Guangdong. The operation of China (Guangzhou)-Vietnam (Hanoi) regular trains and the construction of the western corridor hub station in Jiangmen have made the Pearl River Delta an important transit hub, through which several high-speed rail lines run along the southeast coast of China, passing through Yunnan and Guizhou and reaching into the Indochinese Peninsula. Hong Kong can also establish railway connectivity with the Pearl River Delta and the high-speed rail network on the mainland, so as to shift its positioning from a fringe area to a major transport hub.
In the end, the future direction of Hong Kong’s railway development will hinge on whether the government dares to think creatively and act boldly.
This is an excerpt from his Chinese article published in Takungpao on Aug 29.