Crowd-control measures in place for trains to Disneyland

Trains on the Tung Chung Line will suspend service to Sunny Bay Station if Disneyland reaches full capacity or dangerous overcrowding occurs at the theme park's rail platform, the MTR Corp said.

Sunny Bay Station can safely accommodate about 4,500 passengers at any one time while the Disneyland Resort platform can handle about 1,600 people.

Crowd-control measures, including public announcements, will be in effect once the number of people reaches 800 at the theme park station, said Albert Ng Ka-wah, deputy railway district commander of the police force. Some train ticket gates may also be temporarily closed if the crowd is estimated to reach 1,600 people.

'These are the crowd capacity numbers we have determined to be safe, although the measures will largely be at the discretion of the theme park operator,' Mr Ng said.

The MTRC's Disneyland Resort Line will operate from August 1, six weeks before the theme park officially opens to the public. The driverless train service is fully automatic, capable of shuttling as many as 10,800 passengers between the Sunny Bay and Disneyland Resort Stations per hour in each direction.

The rail company's head of operations, Wilfred Lau Cheuk-man, said 'some teething problems may occur during the early days of operation'. Such problems could involve the 1.1-metre-high platform gates at the two open-air stations. The 'half-height' gates were introduced to avoid upsetting Disney, which did not want the Mickey Mouse-shaped train windows to be obscured by a full-height platform door.

'We have been testing the system for a long time so I only expect very minor problems to arise,' Mr Lau said, adding that a close liaison group involving the MTR Corp, police and the theme park will be in force to handle overcrowding.

The MTR Corp said that it aims to capture 40 per cent of all visitors travelling to the theme park.

Park staff will mainly use the train service in its first two weeks of operation. From August 16 onwards, the public is expected to use the rail link more as they will gain free access to Inspiration Lake and Park Promenade. The Inspiration Lake Recreation Centre can handle about 5,000 people while the Park Promenade can host about 27,000.

The Disneyland resort line will run from 6am to 1am every day.