Northern Link 北環綫 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Overview | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Other name(s) | NOL | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Status |
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Owner | Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Locale | Districts: Yuen Long | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Termini | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Stations | 5 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Service | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
System | MTR | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Operator(s) | MTR Corporation | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
History | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Planned opening |
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Technical | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Line length | 26 km (16 mi) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Track gauge | 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Northern Link | |||||||
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Traditional Chinese | 北環綫 | ||||||
Simplified Chinese | 北环线 | ||||||
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The Northern Link is a proposed rapid transit line of the MTR [1] system of Hong Kong which would connect the Tuen Ma line and the Lok Ma Chau Spur Line of the East Rail line. The link would also serve as a connection to the border checkpoint to mainland China for passengers to and from the western New Territories. [2] The Northern Link would start at Kam Sheung Road and end at Kwu Tung,with 3 intermediate stations.
Other benefits for constructing this project are significantly shorter journey times for certain trips (for example,the Yuen Long to Fanling route would be reduced in length from 20 stations to 5),significantly reducing costs for these trips,as well as relieving the large number of passengers using the East Rail line by diverting some passengers to the Tuen Ma line.
According to the Railway Development Strategy 2014,a shuttle service between Kam Sheung Road station and Kwu Tung station spanning 10.7 km (6.6 mi) was expected to begin construction in 2018 and be inaugurated in 2023. [3]
The initial line is expected to cost HK$62 billion in December 2015 prices,with an average of HK$500 million/km. [4] [5]
The Northern Link (NOL) project is expected to consist of four phases.
Phase 1 consists of the construction and completion of Kwu Tung station that will initially serve the East Rail line after its opening, then later the Northern Link after the completion of Phase 2. It had been partially built by KCR Corporation during the construction of the Lok Ma Chau Spur Line. Construction of Kwu Tung station was approved by the government in 2022 is scheduled to commence in 2023 with completion due in 2027. [6] Construction started on September 29, 2023. [7]
The station was expected to cost HK$3.5 billion as of December 2015. [8] [9] As of July 2023, the estimated cost had risen to HK$5.9 billion. [10]
Phase 2 consists of the building of the 10.7 km main line from Kam Sheung Road station to Kwu Tung station. It also includes the construction of 3 new stations (Au Tau, Ngau Tam Mei and San Tin) along with the expansion of Kam Sheung Road station to accommodate the new tracks and platforms. Planning and designing began in 2021. Construction of the mainline is planned to begin in 2025 and be completed in 2034. [11]
It is expected to cost HK$58.5 billion in December 2015 prices. [12] [13]
The 5.8 km Northern Link Spur Line starts from San Tin station and connects to San Tin Technopole, Hong Kong-Shenzhen Innovation and Technology Park before terminating at the Huanggang Port in Shenzhen. Planning and design for the line is expected to start in 2024. [14]
The 9.5 km eastern extension extends eastward from Kwu Tung to Ping Che via Lo Wu South and Man Kam To. [14] Originally planned as part of the extension, the section from Heung Yuen Wai to Fanling station will form the new 8.5 km Northeast New Territories Line. [15]
Station Name | Connections | Opening date | District | |
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English | Chinese | |||
Phase 1 (Under construction) | ||||
Kwu Tung | 古洞 | 2027 | North | |
Phase 2 | ||||
Kam Sheung Road | 錦上路 | 20 December 2003 | Yuen Long | |
Au Tau | 凹頭 | — | 2034 | |
Ngau Tam Mei | 牛潭尾 | |||
San Tin | 新田 | |||
Eastern Extension | ||||
Lo Wu South | 羅湖南 | TBA | North | |
Man Kam To | 文錦渡 | |||
Hung Lung Hang | 恐龍坑 | — | ||
Ping Che | 坪輋 | |||
Northern Link Spur Line | ||||
San Tin | 新田 | — | 2034 | North |
Chau Tau | 洲頭 | TBA | ||
HK-SZ Innovation and Technology Park | 港深創科園 | |||
Huanggang Port | 皇崗口岸 |
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In July 2021, Liber Research Community found that developers had begun to hoard land alongside the Northern Link line, buying at least 80 hectares of land near the line. [16]
The Mass Transit Railway (MTR) is a major public transport network serving Hong Kong. Operated by the MTR Corporation (MTRCL), it consists of heavy rail, light rail, and feeder bus services, centred around a 10-line rapid transit network, serving the urbanised areas of Hong Kong Island, Kowloon, and the New Territories. The system encompasses 245.3 km (152.4 mi) of railways, as of December 2022, with 179 stations—including 99 heavy rail stations, 68 light rail stops and 1 high-speed rail terminus.
The Kowloon–Canton Railway was a railway network in Hong Kong. It was owned and operated by the Kowloon–Canton Railway Corporation (KCRC) until 2007. Rapid transit services, a light rail system, feeder bus routes within Hong Kong, and intercity passenger and freight train services to China on the KCR network, have been operated by the MTR Corporation since 2007.
North District is the northernmost district of the 18 districts of Hong Kong. It is located in the northeastern part of the New Territories. The new town of Fanling–Sheung Shui is within this district. It had a population of 298,657 in 2001. The district has the second lowest population density in Hong Kong.
The Tsuen Wan line is one of the ten lines of the metro network in Hong Kong's MTR. It is indicated in red on the MTR map.
The Tung Chung line is one of the ten lines of the MTR system in Hong Kong, linking the town of Tung Chung with central Hong Kong. It was built in the 1990s as part of the Airport Railway project, part of the construction of the new Chek Lap Kok Airport. The line currently travels through eight stations in 31 minutes along its route. The line is coloured orange on the MTR system map.
The West Rail line was a rapid transit line that formed part of the Mass Transit Railway (MTR) system in Hong Kong until 27 June 2021. Coloured magenta on the MTR map, the line ran from Tuen Mun to Hung Hom, with a total length of 35.7 kilometres (22.2 mi), in 37 minutes. The railway connected the urban area of Kowloon and the new towns of Yuen Long, Tin Shui Wai and Tuen Mun in the northwestern New Territories.
Kam Sheung Road is an MTR station on the Tuen Ma line, located between Pat Heung and Kam Tin in Hong Kong. It is situated between Tsuen Wan West and Yuen Long stations. Kam Sheung Road was the arena for the KCR West Rail's opening ceremony.
The East Rail line is one of the ten lines that form MTR, the mass transit system in Hong Kong. The railway line starts at Lo Wu or Lok Ma Chau, both of which are boundary crossing points into Shenzhen and joins in the north at Sheung Shui and ends at Admiralty station on Hong Kong Island. At approximately 46 km (29 mi), the line is the second longest line within the network, behind the Tuen Ma line. The line's colour is light blue, formerly navy blue before the KCR/MTR merger.
Central is an MTR station located in the Central area of Hong Kong Island. The station's livery is firebrick red but brown on the Tsuen Wan line platforms. The station is the southern terminus of the Tsuen Wan line, a stop on the Island line, and connects to Hong Kong station, which serves the Tung Chung line and the Airport Express.
Austin is an underground MTR rapid transit station on the Tuen Ma line in Hong Kong, situated perpendicular to Wui Cheung Road and Austin Road West, and formerly adjacent to Jordan Road Ferry Pier Bus Terminus.
Fanling Highway is a part of Route 9 in Hong Kong. It connects the new town of Tai Po and San Tin Highway, passing through Sheung Shui and Fanling on its way. The three lane expressway was constructed between 1983 and 1987.
Several future projects on the MTR have been put forward by the MTR Corporation to the Hong Kong Government. Some of these are still in planning stage.
The Lok Ma Chau Spur Line is the second railway link between Hong Kong and Mainland China, relieving passenger congestion at Lo Wu station. The 7.4 km (4.6 mi) alignment branches off the existing MTR East Rail line north of Sheung Shui station and then runs to the Lok Ma Chau station where customs and immigration facilities are provided. The terminus is connected to Futian Checkpoint station of the Shenzhen Metro Line 4 by a pedestrian bridge across the Shenzhen River.
Kwu Tung is a planned underground infill station on the Lok Ma Chau spur line of the East Rail line of the MTR rapid transit network in Hong Kong. The station will be situated near Kwu Tung in North District, New Territories.
Kwu Tung is an area in the northern New Territories, west of Sheung Shui and Fanling, and east of Lok Ma Chau and San Tin, in Hong Kong.
The Guangzhou–Shenzhen–Hong Kong Express Rail Link (XRL), also known as the Guangshengang XRL, is a high-speed railway line that connects Guangzhou and Hong Kong (Kowloon) via Shenzhen.
Hong Kong's rail network mainly comprises public transport trains operated by the MTR Corporation Limited (MTRC). The MTRC operates the metro network of the territory, the commuter rail network connecting the northeastern, northwestern and southwestern New Territories to the urban areas, and a light rail network in northwestern New Territories. The operations of the territory's two leading railway companies, MTRC and the Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation (KCRC), were merged in 2007 on grounds of economies of scale and cost effectiveness. The Hong Kong Government has an explicit stated transport policy of using railways as its transport backbone.
The Hong Kong government started developing new towns in the 1950s to accommodate Hong Kong's booming population. During the first phase of development, the newly developed towns were called "satellite towns", a concept borrowed from the United Kingdom, of which Hong Kong was a colony. Kwun Tong, located in eastern Kowloon, and Tsuen Wan, located in the south-west of the New Territories, were designated as the first satellite towns, when the urban area in Hong Kong was still relatively small, restricted to the central and western parts of Kowloon Peninsula and the northern side of Hong Kong Island. Wah Fu Estate was also built in a remote corner on the southern side of Hong Kong Island, with similar concepts but at a smaller scale.
The history of the South Island line and West Island line encompasses a number of proposals which were made for extending the Hong Kong MTR metro system to the south and west of Hong Kong Island, which were not serviced by any rail transport before 2014. The West Island line opened as an extension of the Island line on 28 December 2014. The South Island line has completed construction and commenced service on 28 December 2016. The proposed South Island line (West) is still in the planning phase and is expected to begin in 2021.
A design consultant was appointed for Kwu Tung Station on the East Rail Line in April 2021, with construction targeted to commence in 2023 for completion in 2027.