Hong Kong’s MTR Corp to upgrade Tung Chung line signalling system on Sunday night

A section of the new Tung Chung line tracks near Tung Chung East station.

Photo: Elson Li Hong Kong’s MTR Corporation will carry out overnight signalling upgrade works on Sunday as part of preparations for the partial opening of the Tung Chung line extension later this year.

Representatives from the city’s sole rail operator also said on Wednesday that the HK$19.5 billion (US$2.5 billion) project remained unaffected by a counterfeit brick scandal and the full extension was still on track to open in 2029.

Upgrades to the existing system will take place in the early hours of Sunday, said Tim Leung Chi-tim, the MTR’s general manager for railway and system integration, at a press briefing.

Work involves upgrading the automatic train supervision system (ATSS), which is responsible for real-time central monitoring and train dispatching, to support the two new stations, Tung Chung East and Tung Chung West, he said.

Leung added that the upgrade was part of preparations to integrate the new track sections into the wider network, but pledged that the work would be completed before the first train in the morning, ensuring normal services on the Tung Chung line and Airport Express. “The upgrade will enable the new track section to be similarly integrated into the existing railway network with centralised operational monitoring and train regulation,” he said. “The team will closely monitor operations and have put in place contingency measures to minimise any unforeseen impact.” He noted that the ATSS is a subsystem of the overall signalling network, and that Sunday’s operation differs in nature and scale from the major signalling replacement on the Tsuen Wan line earlier this month.

Leung said the team had carried out more than 60 dynamic train tests over the past year, with trains running through the new section to test various systems. “The track for Hong Kong-bound trains from Tung Chung is targeted to be diverted in the second half of this year,” he said.

With trains running on the new diversion track through Tung Chung East Station, Leung said the next stage would involve demolishing parts of the existing Hong Kong-bound track and constructing sections of the Tung Chung-bound track, expected to begin later this year.

Lee Ka-leung, head of the MTR’s Lantau project delivery team, added that Tung Chung East station – along with two passenger footbridges linking the exits – had been mostly completed.

The station topped out last month following the completion

原文链接: 南华早报