YMC Overseas Delegation 2009 Local Seminar Series:
Seminar on MTR Corporation and Railway Development in Hong Kong
By Mr. John Sun
A technical seminar on MTR Corporation (MTRC) and Railway Development in Hong Kong was organized by the Young Members Committee on 16Mar 2009. The committee was honored to have IrPeterLeung, Design Manager of MTRC South Island Line (East), to deliverthe talk.
To give an overview on how railway plays its important role in the efficient and mass transit transportation planning, Ir Leung briefly introduced characteristics of railway system and associated operational models in cosmopolitan citiessuch as London, Parisand compared by presentationof data including patterns of railway incomes and operational cost.Ir Leung continuedwith the development of railway in Hong Kong; specifically on theroadmap that KCRC and MTRC, which are eventually merged into a half private company, positioned themselves in the long history of the railway. He shared the strategies of the development, with highlight on the change from its passive to active role, thus railway was not developed solely to meet demand of transportation in the region but was to lure people moving to new development areas by allowing for efficient and convenient people flow as the integrated part of town planning strategies.Currently, the railway line is as long as 168.1km with as much as 80 stations. The market coverage is 42% a bit more than that of the bus by 2%.
The planning, design and construction of the new railway line were also introduced through a process flow chart of railway engineering for the MTRC. Apart from the general arrangement of railway stations, Ir Leung emphasized the quality of interchange designwhich is the key successful matter of a metro system. The requirement that time spent for the interchange at same platformin 60 seconds and atdifferent platform in 3 minutes highlighted the demanding interchange design and control.
Ir Leung ended the presentation with sharing on other business models by MTR. The Rail and Property integralbusiness model highlighted the synergy of stimulating rail patronageand enhancing land values, as well as sources of non-tariff incomes. We would like to take this opportunity to thank Ir Leung again for delivering the talk to young members.
Photo 1: Speaker, IrPeterLeung, Design Manager of MTRC South Island Line (East) was giving the speech.
Photo 2: Group photo of Ir Peter Leung with Organizing Committee