MTR on track to carry 20,000 more passengers a day
Extra carriages to be added and waiting times reduced
The MTR Light Rail system is expanding services next month to carry up to about 20,000 more passengers each day, with a focus on providing extra capacity within Tin Shui Wai and Tuen Mun.
Both trains and carriages will be added to boost the daily carrying capacity, now at roughly 700,000, by about 2.8 per cent.
The operator sought to dispel concerns that strengthening the northwestern New Territories system would drain resources from other train lines across the city, in the wake of a recent string of system failures and delays.
"The service enhancement on the Light Rail will not affect any service enhancement measures on our heavy-rail network," the MTR Corporation's deputy director of operations Adi Lau Tin-shing said yesterday.
Starting April 7, every week the Light Rail will operate 148 more trips and run two carriages at a time in 414 trips. The extra carriage is not powered and will simply be tugged along by the first car.
Of the 148 additional services, 130 will cover Tuen Mun route 507, as well as the Tin Shui Wai loops 705 and 706 during late afternoons and evenings, when travelling is at its peak.