Ma On Shan Line

## **Ma On Shan Line** **馬鞍山綫**

The **Ma On Shan Line** was once a heavy rail line of the MTR system. It was opened on 21 December 2004, between Wu Kai Sha and Tai Wai.

 ****Ma On Shan Rail**** was built and owned by the Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation, which was renamed **Ma On Shan Line** after the rail merger on December 2, 2007. On February 14, 2020, in conjunction with the opening of Hin Keng Station to Kai Tak Station of the Sha Tin to Central Link, it was merged into Tuen Ma Line Phase 1. On the roadmap, this route is represented by brown.

## History

The Government published the "Railway Development Strategy" in 1994, proposing to launch three priority railway projects, including the MTR Tseung Kwan O Line, the  **KCR West Rail** and the  ****Ma On Shan Rail**** (together with the Template:Tsim Sha Tsui Extension). The  ****Ma On Shan Rail**** is very important to improve the traffic in the Ma On Shan area and promote the further development of the area; and the Template:Tsim Sha Tsui Extension will provide an additional interchange to facilitate passengers to transfer to the MTR system, which is indispensable for the smooth operation of the  ****Ma On Shan Rail****, and the two railways can complement with each other. In addition to providing direct transportation to the urban area of Kowloon for residents of the Northeast New Territories, it also relieves the congestion at the Kowloon Tong MTR/Kowloon Rail Interchange Station and MTR Nathan Road Corridor stations.

In September 1998, the Executive Council decided to invite the KCRC to carry out detailed planning and design work on the Ma On Shan Railway and the Template:Tsim Sha Tsui Extension, and to draw up a project agreement in 1999. According to the Railway Ordinance, the government announced in the Gazette on March 26 and April 30 of the same year, respectively, the railway plans for the MTR and the Template:Tsim Sha Tsui Extension. The selected railway line is basically located on the land reserved by the government for railway development in Shatin and Ma On Shan. It mainly provides convenient and fast mass transportation services for the residents in the east of Shing Mun River. Therefore, most of the stations will be built near the relevant housing estates, which is convenient for the residents to go on foot.

The Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation held a ground-breaking ceremony for  ****Ma On Shan Rail**** at Tai Wai Station on February 12, 2001. The 11.4-kilometer-long MTR will connect to the existing  **KCR East Rail** at Tai Wai Station. Passengers travelling from Ma On Shan to Kowloon only need to interchange at the opposite platform to take the East Rail. Therefore, the project has also included the expansion and improvement of Tai Wai Station to provide passages across the platform to facilitate passengers transferring trains, and to ensure that Tai Wai Station has sufficient capacity to handle both Template:East Rail and  ****Ma On Shan Rail**** passengers.

The 9 stations of the whole line were flat-topped in early 2003, and the installation of the viaduct was completed in April. The new Tai Wai Station Concourse was also opened to the public on 24 December. The extension is equipped with the same new gates and ticket machines as the **West Rail**; Template:East Rail passengers use the new concourse while the original station concourse is rebuilt To cooperate with the opening of  ****Ma On Shan Rail****.

KCRC held the opening ceremony for  ****Ma On Shan Rail**** at Template:East Rail Tai Wai Station on 21 December 2004. Those attended include the Secretary for Finance Henry Tang Ying-nien, KCRC Chairman Michael Tien Puk-sun, Deputy CEO Lai Man-hei, Senior Director of New Railway Engineering Li Keng-kuen, Senior Director of Transportation Li Yan-tai, etc.

### Tuen Ma Line Phase 1

See: **[[Tuen Ma Line]]**

In order to allow the public to use the newly built railway as soon as possible, the Government believes that it is necessary to partially open the Tai Wai to Hung Hom Section. After several months of research by the MTR Corporation, and after fully considering safety and other operational feasibility factors, the MTR Corporation proposed and the Government agreed to start using three new stations: in Keng Station, the extension of Diamond Hill Station and Kai Tak Station. These 3 stations were opened on February 14 2020, and **Ma On Shan Line** became history.

## Route Introduction

**Ma On Shan Line** mainly serves the residents along Ma On Shan and the east of the Shing Mun River. All stations on the line are of overhead design. There are no tunnel sections along the line. Most sections travel at 50 to 80 km/h. Long and up to 100km/h, it is the first MTR line without tunnels and the only line adopting 'upward right, downward left' operation method. It is also the first KCR line that sells smart tickets on the entire line. Due to the short distance between the station and the main service of housing estates or housing estates along the line, it is also nicknamed the "Neighbourhood Railway".

## Stations

When the  ****Ma On Shan Rail**** opened, all platforms from Che Kung Temple to Wu Kai Sha Station can only accommodate five to six-car trains, four of which are service areas, and the structure is reserved for future expansion.

According to the signs at the two ends of the platform, in the past, this route was set to go upwards to Wu Kai Sha and downwards to Tai Wai, and the platform numbers were odd numbers for downwards and even numbers for upwards, which is different from other routes.

From October 13, 2019, the direction of Tai Wai (Kai Tak) will be changed to upward, and the direction of Wu Kai Sha will be changed to downward, in line with the change of traffic direction after the opening of the Tuen Ma Line.

## Train Operations

### Train Service Hours

#### First Train

**Ma On Shan Line**上行 (To Tai Wai) FWu Kai Sha開出，而下行（To Wu Kai Sha方向）頭班車則由Tai Wai開出。