Light Rail

## **Light Rail** **輕鐵**

The ****Light Rail****  (**輕鐵**) is a light railway system operated by MTR Corporation in Tuen Mun, Yuen Long and Tin Shui Wai, with a total length of 36.2 km and 68 stops, each in close proximity of one another, with the average distance between 2 stops being around 580 metres. Trains travel along the tracks that are built in the exclusive areas of individual roads or along private sections of housing estates.

Since its opening in September 1988, the **Light Rail** has been the main means of transportation for residents in the Northwest New Territories. The **Light Rail** network was about 23 km long when it was first completed, with an average daily ridership of 151,000 passengers. With the opening of the Tin Shui Wai branchline in December 2003, the **Light Rail** network was been extended by 57% to 36.15 km, with a total of 12 routes and 68 stops along the line, to cope with the development of Yuen Long, Tuen Mun and Tin Shui Wai new towns. The average daily passenger volume of the **Light Rail** reached 360,000 passengers in 2004, and the annual passenger volume was 130 million passengers per year. In 2012, the total number of **Light Rail** passengers exceeded 167 million.

The **Light Rail** currently serves nearly 500,000 passengers a day and plays a dual role. On the one hand, it provides connecting services for Tuen Ma Line passengers, and on the other hand, it is also an important means of public transport in the Northwest New Territories. Since the merger of the two railways, the MTR Corporation has leased the **Light Rail** from the Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation, and is responsible for the operation of the **Light Rail** system and the repair and maintenance of its jurisdiction.

## Name and Logo

At the beginning of the light rail operation, the official name of the system was "'*Light Rail Transit*" (referred to as **LRT**). Before it opened to traffic, the name "Northwest Railway" was used in the media, which was seen in the name of its bylaw "Northwest Railway Bylaw". Later, Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation reformed its corporate image, and the official name of the system was changed to "**KCR Light Rail**", abbreviated as "**Light Rail**".

KCRC established a new department in April 1 2003, - West Rail Division (Operations) to consolidate management of West Rail, Light Rail and feeder bus services. In 2007, after the merger of the two railways in December, the light rail continued to be owned by the Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation, while the service management rights were leased to MTR Corporation, more directly known as " **Light Rail**"; the "Northwest Railway Bylaws" (Chapter 372E) is replaced by "Mass Transit Railway (Northwest Railway) Bylaws (Chapter 556H), but still legally referred to as "Northwest Railway." It is called the Light Rail System, and the content is also re-enacted.

Since the opening of the Light Rail, the representative colour has been Orange; after the 2007 railway merger, due to the combination with the representative of the original MTR Tung Chung Line The colour is similar, so they changed the colour scheme to <span style="color:{{the **Light Rail** Colour|KCR}};">mud yellow instead (each route itself uses its own colour). Light Rail stations are called "stops" in English, the same as bus stops (as the network replaced most bus routes), with the term "station" used by heavy rail (such as East Rail Line, Tuen Ma Line).

Light Rail logo (1988-1996)
## Network and route

At present, the **Light Rail** has 13 routes between Tuen Mun, Yuen Long and Tin Shui Wai, forming a network with a total length of 36.15 km across the North West New Territories.

506P: Tuen Mun Ferry Pier → Pui To
(Morning Peak Hours Only)
**507**: Tuen Mun Ferry Pier—Tin King

**507P**: Siu Hong→Tuen Mun Ferry Pier

**614P**: Tuen Mun Ferry Pier—Siu Hong
**615P**:
 Tuen Mun—Yuen Long
**614**: Tuen Mun Ferry Pier—Yuen Long
 Tuen Mun—Tin Shui Wai
 Inside Tin Shui Wai | **705**: Tin Shui Wai Circular
**706**: Tin Shui Wai Circular
**751P**: Tin Shui Wai—Tin Yat
 Yuen Long—Tin Shui Wai

### Network Development

**The Encyclopedia of Bus Transport in Hong Kong Wiki**：
Transit Service Area

**The Encyclopedia of Bus Transport in Hong Kong Wiki**：
MTR Bus

The first phase of LR was opened to traffic in 1988. At that time, the network consisted of 6 routes and 70 Phase I LRVs. During peak hours, there were about 43 vehicles running, serving Tuen Mun and Yuen Long Districts. In the early years of operation, daily passengers averaged about 150,000 passengers.

In 1993, with the development of Tin Shui Wai New Town, the Light Rail network extended into Tin Shui Wai, and the number of routes increased to 9, and the number of vehicles also increased to 100 (with 20 Phase II LRVs and 10 trailers). There were about 88 vehicles running during peak hours. Later, the LRT network within Tin Shui Wai was further developed, with some routes reorganized between 2003 and 2004 to strengthen the service in the Tin Shui Wai area, and the number of routes increased to 12. For changes over the years, please refer to the Light Rail Route History entry. Phase III cars entered service in the late 1990s as further expansion.

After the West Rail Line (part of the current Tuen Ma Line) opened to traffic in 2003, the **Light Rail** took on the role of providing connection services for the West Rail. the **Light Rail** passengers can use Yuen Long, Tin Shui Wai, Siu Hong and  Tuen Mun Station transfer to the Tuen Ma Line. On the other hand, many residents traveling between Tuen Mun, Yuen Long and Tin Shui Wai across districts also transfer to West Rail. Passengers' demand for the **Light Rail** long-distance services has dropped significantly, but for short-distance services in Tin Shui Wai and Tuen Mun, the demand for services has increased. According to the data in 2006, the average passenger volume between the **Light Rail** and Tuen Mun and Tin Shui Wai decreased from 35,000 to 13,000 per day, a decrease of 64%; while the average daily passenger volume between Tuen Mun and Yuen Long decreased from 40,000 to 22,000 person-time, a decrease of 45%.

After the merger of the two railways in December 2007, the **Light Rail** was handed over to the MTR Corporation for operation. In 2008, the average daily passenger volume was about 376,000, and the number increased to about 490,000 in 2016. The **Light Rail** cross-district long-distance passengers have been decreasing year by year, from about 7% of daily passengers in 2009 to about 5% in 2016.  Therefore, it is common to have many passengers exit/enter at interchange stations with the Tuen Ma Line.

In 2009, the Phase IV LRVs, built by CSL/Goninan entered service as part of service expansion. Phase I vehicles except 1027 were also refurbished, receiving MTR's current livery and a cab similar to the Phase IV; however, their distinct rear caps were kept.

Starting in 2022, Phase V LRVs, built by CSR Nanjing Puzhen entered service, replacing the 1992-built Kawasaki Phase II LRVs with a further 10 units for expansion, with a total of 169 LRVs in the network. The Kawasaki cars started to be retired in September 2022 (1071, 1201, 1073 & 1206) and were sent mostly sent to scrap. The last four cars, consisted as 1086/1209 and 1090/1210 had their final passenger runs as an express service from Yuen Long to Siu Hong in the morning of February 26, 2023, with a farewell ceremony held at the latter. The final runs were assigned to run number 886 ("farewell" in Chinese).

On September 4, 2023, to coincide with the 2023-2024 academic year, route 506P was implemented as a one-way tripper service from Tuen Mun Ferry Pier to Pui To; serving Lung Mun Oasis, Tuen Mun Station and Prime View with two daily services. Upon arriving at the latter, the LRV would interline with route 614P. This route was supposed to begin on September 1, 2023.

### Stops and Platforms

More Info: **Light Rail Platforms**
Currently, there are 159 **Light Rail** platforms, consisting of 68 Stops. **Light Rail** stops are generally located on the ground level with either level crossings, footbridges or pedestrian subways, and only Tuen Mun, Pui To, Fung Tei and Chung Fu stops are located overhead on bridges.

Most of the stops are built in the dedicated right of way next to the road or in the centre of the road in the downtown Yuen Long section, and some stops are built in public housing estates or private housing estates. The Light Rail is divided into six Fare Zones, which is the first railway system in Hong Kong to adopt the concept of a fare zone. Each fare zone covers travel within a select geographical area for one trip. In addition, passengers who use an Octopus card/e-Octopus will receive a discount when tapping out for most trips as part of the Light Rail Bonus Scheme.

Stations are also operated on the honour system, where it is expected to tap in and out using an Octopus card/e-Octopus, or purchase a single ride ticket for the appropriate zones. Therefore, all Light Rail stations have no gates and fare inspectors will travel the system to ensure people have paid for their trip. To ensure revenue from cash fares is collected, a chartered LRV will travel the system to replace cash boxes regularly during service hours.

### Stop Operating Hours

Except for trains running during extended hours, the operating hours of Light Rail Stops are approximately 5:00 am to 1:30 am. Outside service hours, station lighting is usually turned off automatically; and platform announcements are automatically adjusted to "night mode" from 11:00 pm to 7:00 am to reduce noise. Trains can still operate outside these hours for maintenance, non-revenue and test purposes.

## Fleet

### Current

* Comeng Phase I (1001-1012, 1015-1026, 1028-1070)
	+ 1013 was retired after a major accident in 1993
	+ 1014 was retired after a major accident in 2021 and is now used as a parts donor/storage room
	+ 1027 was not refurbished and retired prematurely in 2011, it was scrapped in 2022 after being kept as a parts donor
	+ 1004 was originally named "LRV Pioneer", 1070 as "F.D. Snell"; names were removed after refurbishment; 1027 was also temporarily named as "Light Rail Love" as a mobile blood donation clinic
* Goninan Phase III (1091-1110, undergoing refurbishment)
* Goninan/CSL Phase IV (1111-1136)
* CSR Phase V (1137-1160, 1211-1220)

### Retired

* Kawasaki Phase II (1071-1090, 1201-1210)
	+ 1086, 1090 & 1210 are preserved in operating condition
	+ 1088's front preserved at a school

### Maintenance

* Mercedes-Benz Unimog hi-rail truck (RRV1-2)
* DAF XF overhead wire maintenance truck (RRV3)
* Plasser & Theurer ballast tamper
* Maintenance flatcars

## Travel time and frequency

### Train Operating Hours

Starting from September 28, 2014, the MTR Corporation has extended the late-night service of 8 Light Rail routes by increasing the deployment of Light Rail Vehicles and readjusting the maintenance time of Light Rail facilities to allow passengers on the West Rail Line Passengers on the last train heading to the Northwest New Territories can transfer to the Light Rail to go to all 68 stations in the network. Later, in response to the full opening of the Tuen Ma Line on June 27, 2021, the time of the last train has been adjusted. All full-day Light Rail routes (except **615** ) have been adjusted to better connect with this train from June 20, 2021. In addition, MTR Bus routes have also been adjusted to meet the last train at connecting stations.

The current operating hours of the Light Rail system are from 05:11 to 01:35;

* The earliest start for the full-day route network is route **705** , and the departure time from Tin Shui Wai is 05:11;
* The latest start for the full-day route network for the first train is route **614P** , and the departure time from Siu Hong is 05:58;
* The earliest final departure time for the full-day route network is route **615** , and the departure time from Yuen Long is 00:28;
* The latest final departure time for the full-day route network are routes **614P**, **615P** ; both of which depart from Siu Hong at 01:13.

### Rush Hours

 Saturday
 Sundays and public holidays

## References

1. ↑ Merger of West Rail and Light Rail, Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation website, March 31, 2003
2. ↑ Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation provides light rail services, Legislative Council Transport Panel Railway Matters Subcommittee, November 17, 2006
3. ↑ The Light Rail is close to saturation, the government researched and restructured the route, cross-district passengers may need to "transfer" on the way, Ming Pao, 2017 February 6th