KCRC unsure of new line's draw
With services on the Lok Ma Chau spur line set to start this afternoon, the KCRC says it is still unclear how many cross-border passengers will be diverted from Lo Wu.
Selwyn Lai Sau-heem, general manager of East Rail operations for the Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation, said yesterday the 7.4km extension that branches off from Sheung Shui station would provide a quicker route between Hong Kong and mainland cities like Futian and Baoan.
The spur line was built to relieve pressure on the main Lo Wu terminal and originally was expected to divert a quarter of passenger traffic from Lo Wu.
'We don't have [an estimate] of the number of passengers who will be diverted from Lo Wu station,' Mr Lai said, adding that the new line would serve 50,000 to 60,000 cross-border passengers a day.
From tomorrow, the first and last trains leaving East Tsim Sha Tsui will be at 5.33am and 9.33pm. The first train will leave Lok Ma Chau at 6.38am and the last at 10.55pm.
Trains would run every 10 minutes during peak hours and at 12-minute intervals in off-peak hours, Mr Lai said.
He said he was not worried about overcrowding at Sheung Shui station as the platform had been widened.
Chief Secretary Henry Tang Ying-yen, Commissioner for Transport Alan Wong Chi-kwong, KCRC chairman Michael Tien Puk-sun and acting director of highways Cheung Hing-wan will host today's opening ceremony at 10.30am.
They will be joined by Shenzhen major Xu Zongheng , officials from the Guangdong provincial government and the Shenzhen municipal government and a director of Shenzhen Metro.
The first passengers using the line will be greeted by Mr Tien, who has booked the train's first carriage.
The KCRC will deploy 60 staff at Sheung Shui station to help passengers during the first three months of the new line's operations.
Fast track
Number of minutes it will now take to travel from East Tsim Sha Tsui to Lok Ma Chau: 45
