HONG KONG / CHINA | High Speed Rail

[test0012]

Originally Posted by Sen

how did they get 10hr travel time between HK and Beijing? currently it takes 10hr for the CRH train to run from Shanghai to Beijing, which is less than half of the distance between HK and Beijing.
They need 350km/h trains at least if they are going to achieve this.

The 350 km/h high-speed line between Beijing and Guangzhou is in construction. The construction of the Wuhan to Guangzhou portion was started in 2005 and is nearly complete. The construction of the Beijing to Wuhan portion was started in October 2008, and will be ready in 4 years.

[foxmulder_ms]

Originally Posted by Sen

They need 350km/h trains at least if they are going to achieve this.

That's exactly what they are doing..

[Taipei Walker]

Shenzhen Futian Station construction (Jan.17)



renderings and drawings






it will be connected with metro line 2 (also under construction) and future line 11




some info

[hkskyline]

So they'll likely open way before Hong Kong can get all the infrastructure ready.

[honwai1983]

Originally Posted by hkskyline

廣深港鐵路毀滅家園
11 December 2008
太陽報

【太陽報專訊】耗資四百億元的廣深港高速鐵路香港段近日終於刊憲，徵詢市民意見。廣深港高速鐵路不但耗資大量公帑，更對不少市民的生活環境構成嚴重影響，但關注該等工程的社會人士卻寥寥可數，此現象令筆者極為憂慮。事實上，廣深港高速鐵路自劃定路線開始，已經犯下極大錯誤。

多年前，政府向立法會提交文件，就廣深港高速鐵路香港段的路線提出兩個方案，其中一個方案是連接現時的西鐵網絡，以錦上路為香港段的終點站；另一個方案是獨立選線，由深圳邊境直達西九龍文化藝術區。當時筆者強烈反對獨立選線方案，認為此方案會令新界東以及新界西數以百萬計市民，必須花費大量時間，才可前往西九使用高速鐵路服務。

反之，若以錦上路為終點站，新界東及新界西的市民便可透過西鐵網絡，快捷地前往廣深港高速鐵路香港段的終點站。此外，以西九為終點站，意味?廣深港高速鐵路香港段的長度必會大增，更多市民必會被鐵路工程影響，而收回土地所須作出的賠償金額亦會大增。可惜的是，當時大部分議員並沒有意識到問題的嚴重性，貿然支持獨立選線的方案，當時政府對公眾作出的諮詢工作更是十分馬虎，絕大多數市民無從得知廣深港高速鐵路的具體內容。

結果，此等對社會影響極大的方案，最終在沒有爭議的情況下獲得通過。最近當局將廣深港高速鐵路香港段刊憲，並設有網頁，上載了大量與鐵路規劃及收地有關的圖則，不少市民才得知自己的土地被收回，或驚覺廣深港高速鐵路將會在門前經過。所謂亡羊補牢，未為晚也，現在距離諮詢期截止日期尚有兩個月，希望市民可以關注鐵路對自己權益構成的影響。如市民漠視此寶貴機會，政府一錘定音，落實工程，屆時才感到後悔便會為時已晚。

I think that writer live in west-north district of HK.
I am strongly againest to locate the terminal station to Kam Shui Road of Existing station because:

1. It lost valuable time of commerical people to travel from city center to Kam Shui Road (30 min to 1 hr). Existing travel time from Kowloon - Guangzhou is 2 hour. The Estlimining time from Kam Shui Road to Guangzhou is 50 min. Only shorten 15- 30 min of travel time is meanless.

2. According to operation information of Existing HSR, Sub-urban citizen less chance to take HSR than commerical people in urban area. North-west district citizen can choose to take HSR at Futan station in mainland China. Travel Time from Shenzhen to Yuen Long is about 20 min.

3. Whole rounting in HK uses tunnels. Tunnel min. land use and save many valuable land in HK.

[hkskyline]

Austin Road Station by 鄧麗欣之戀 from skyscrapers.cn :

[city_thing]

Is that station on Austin road for the MTR? Austin Road is so close to Jordan station though, and TST...

At the western end of Austin road is West Kowloon, and to the East is Hung Hom. I don't understand what this station is for....

[hkskyline]

Originally Posted by city_thing

Is that station on Austin road for the MTR? Austin Road is so close to Jordan station though, and TST...

At the western end of Austin road is West Kowloon, and to the East is Hung Hom. I don't understand what this station is for....

Yes, this will be the West Rail extension stop, but the future HSR to Guangzhou will also terminate here.

Austin Road is actually quite a distance from Jordan.

[city_thing]

So the KCR West rail line is going to end here instead of Nam Cheong now?

Are there no plans to carry it through to TST in the same way that East Rail now goes through TST East?

I would have guessed that the Guangzhou express would have gone to Hung Hom, or maybe Central.

[hkskyline]

Originally Posted by city_thing

So the KCR West rail line is going to end here instead of Nam Cheong now?

Are there no plans to carry it through to TST in the same way that East Rail now goes through TST East?

I would have guessed that the Guangzhou express would have gone to Hung Hom, or maybe Central.

West Rail will continue from Nam Cheong to Austin Road, then East TST, and terminate in Hung Hom. East Rail's terminus will move from East TST to Hung Hom.

[ARailSystemsEngineer]

Originally Posted by city_thing

So the KCR West rail line is going to end here instead of Nam Cheong now?

Are there no plans to carry it through to TST in the same way that East Rail now goes through TST East?

I would have guessed that the Guangzhou express would have gone to Hung Hom, or maybe Central.

Maybe HKSkyline or Ericishim can confirm latest plans but I believe-

THe current Kowloon Southern Loop will bring West Rail round to Hung Hom, to interchange with East Rail there; East Tsim Sha Tsui will become a West Rail station, and both East and West Rail will terminate at Hung Hom from opposite directions.

Maybe in the future they will terminate West Rail at the new station on the West Kowloon reclamation and bring East Rail round the Kowloon Southern Loop to terminate there as well. That woudl make sense, as there's plenty of open space in West Kowloon for property development, and they coudl design a huge oversized station to maximise opportunities, just like Tsing Yi. Let's hope its not such a bugger for interchange between lines as Tsing Yi, though

Rse

[city_thing]

Ah, that makes more sense. I thought it would be quite weird having West Rail terminate at Austin road without connections to other lines.

Are there any plans to give Hung Hom a make-over? It's still quite a good station, but every other Chinese city seems to be getting architectural marvels for stations so it would be a shame for HK to miss out when High Speed trains start running through to Hung Hom.

image hosted on flickr


Get rid of the green

[riles28]

Originally Posted by Taipei Walker

Shenzhen Futian Station construction (Jan.17)



renderings and drawings






it will be connected with metro line 2 (also under construction) and future line 11




some info

When i see the picture plan of Hongkong - Guangzhou express rail link is very promising for all people of china and hongkong another economic oppurtunities
ahead when it become operational. Imagine you can't travel much comfortable from china to hongkong in just a couple of an hour using high speed train.

[Goyazny]

I have traveled Guanzhou-HongKong by "normal" train, few months ago.
It is fast enough even now.
So, this train goes trough high dens area, but stays at ShenZ, DongG abd GZhou, only.
New fast train would stay where? ShenZ and Gzhou only?

Listen, guys, it is more anoying to go through passport checking on a HK /Ch border than having a slow ride in a normal train. It is not slow , goes 160 kmh ( 100 mph) on a free line, anyway.

And Maglev. Had a ride, last year ,to a Pudong airport. This is crap. It is fast but 30 km in it is more for amusement. This is too expencive and too unconvenient to build. This one is made by SIEMENS, as I recall well, but new line BeJng -Shngy would be done by Chinese consortium. Wright?
C'mon, maglev is for show-up. Conventional system works with a same speed, less money and more controll.

[hkskyline]

Call to begin rail link in Yuen Long
17 February 2009
South China Morning Post

A green group will apply to the Town Planning Board to stop the building of a cross-border railway station in West Kowloon.

Green Sense said the government should build the terminus for the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link in Yuen Long instead of West Kowloon.

"There is no reason why residents in the New Territories should go all the way to Kowloon to take a train to the mainland," the group's chairman Roy Tam Hoi-pong said.

The rail link, estimated at HK$39.5 billion, will start construction this year and is to be up and running by 2015. It is expected to cut the route to Guangzhou from nearly two hours to 48 minutes. It will be built underground and there will be no stop between the West Kowloon terminus and Futian station in Shenzhen.

Mr Tam said the government should build a section from Shenzhen to West Rail's Kam Sheung Road Station, near Yuen Long.

"Passengers should then switch over to the West Rail if they want to head for Kowloon. It is unnecessary and a waste of money to build a new route and a new terminus specifically for the cross-border train."

His group will submit an application to impose a "no railway station development" condition on the site of the West Kowloon terminus. "Such an expensive railway project will inevitably need residential developments to finance it. We are worried there would be more wall-like housing in West Kowloon."

A spokesman for the Transport and Housing Bureau said "an interchange station at the New Territories will inevitably extend the travelling time and will hinder the [service's] effectiveness". The bureau received 85 objections during a two-month consultation, he said, and objection letters related to land resumption in Choi Yuen Tsuen in Yuen Long.

[urbanfan89]

When this line is built, will there be Chinese Customs Pre-clearance at the West Kowloon Station? It seems logical just as there is US Customs Pre-clearance at Canadian airports.

[hkskyline]

Originally Posted by urbanfan89

When this line is built, will there be Chinese Customs Pre-clearance at the West Kowloon Station? It seems logical just as there is US Customs Pre-clearance at Canadian airports.

We brought this up before :
http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showpo...2&postcount=15

Seems like there will be shared customs in Hong Kong, much like the Canadian airport arrangement.

[huaxia-zhonghua]

Originally Posted by hkskyline

It's going to be a high speed railway that will link up to the new HSR network on the Chinese side in Shenzhen. However, media reports note the top speed is expected to be only about 200 km/h, which is still too slow.

Maglev isn't an option in southern China. They're having enough problems trying to get the Shanghai demonstration line extended. It's just too costly to build.

Chinese side?which one?you confused me

[hkskyline]

Originally Posted by huaxia-zhonghua

Chinese side?which one?you confused me

Mainland China has a HSR network in place between Guangzhou and Shenzhen. Fast trains already run on this route. The Hong Kong leg will connect to the existing HSR network on the mainland side, so eventually HSR trains can go from Hong Kong to multiple cities beyond Guangzhou.

We usually refer to Hong Kong side vs. mainland (Chinese) side - the border distinction is still alive and well so many years after the handover.

[hkskyline]

Low fares urged for new rail link
25 February 2009
South China Morning Post

Fares on the high-speed rail link between West Kowloon and Guangzhou should preferably not be much higher than the MTR's through-train service, a non-governmental think-tank says.

In a report that goes to the government today, the One Country Two Systems Research Institute said although it would take the government many years to cover the cost of the HK$39.5 billion project, the economic benefits generated by the extra passengers would be far greater.

The institute's senior research fellow, Fang Zhou, said the governments should also consider multiple-entry permits to Hong Kong for residents in the Pearl River Delta.

"The rail link should not be seen as just another cross-border route. Instead, its purpose is to hook up to a high-speed, high-frequency inter-city network on the mainland, creating fast access with the entire Pearl River Delta," Dr Fang said.

Secretary for Transport and Housing Eva Cheng signed a memorandum on the link's implementation yesterday. Work will begin later this year.

The Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation, the former operator of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong express rail link project, said two years ago that the link should target businesspeople. It said fares would be higher than for the through-train service, which now costs HK$190 per trip.

But Dr Fang said the link should look to the 50 million residents of the Pearl River Delta, making Hong Kong such a convenient and inexpensive destination that mainland visitors would come just for a meal or movie.

He also advised the government not to adopt a build-operate-transfer model for the Shenzhen-Hong Kong airport rail link, as its construction cost - estimated at between HK$30 billion and HK$50 billion - would result in expensive fares if run privately.

The Transport and Housing Bureau is still studying with Shenzhen authorities arrangements to ensure speedy transfer of passengers between the two airports.