My goal is to create a report that plans new MTR lines to improve transportation and convenience, and create a sustainable Hong Kong. Reduction in travel time will increase productivity, and new MTR lines will reduce travel time. Therefore, new MTR lines will increase productivity. My global context is Fairness and Development because my goal is about the development of Hong Kong and having more MTR lines enables fairness as some people have easy access to MTR while others do not. So far, I have researched proposed MTR lines. I’m choosing this topic as I have some prior knowledge on this subject that I have acquired by watching the news, doing some research, and reading about it. This goal will be highly challenging for me because I have to gain an in-depth knowledge of Hong Kong’s geography, population and trends, and rail technology.
I have also looked to see where additional stations could be added to existing lines and how some lines could be extended. The population of Hong Kong, my target audience, is constantly increasing; therefore, the number of people using public transportation will increase. There will be new towns and housing development projects, so MTR lines will need to reach those areas if they reach a significant population. Tourism to Hong Kong has also increased, so there may need to be some adjustments to the carrying capacity of current MTR services. For this personal project, I plan to research and write about a new line or line extension every week.
I have also looked to see where additional stations could be added to existing lines and how some lines could be extended. The population of Hong Kong, my target audience, is constantly increasing; therefore, the number of people using public transportation will increase. There will be new towns and housing development projects, so MTR lines will need to reach those areas if they reach a significant population. Tourism to Hong Kong has also increased, so there may need to be some adjustments to the carrying capacity of current MTR services. For this personal project, I plan to research and write about a new line or line extension every week.
As can be seen from the graph, more and more people are living in the New Territories, so there will need to be more lines serving those areas.
The population is constantly growing, albeit not as rapidly as before. This means new lines will need to be planned for new towns to ensure sustainable growth.
I have researched about how crowded each MTR lines are and learned about their maximum capacity, whether there are plans to upgrade signals to increase capacity, and the percentage load of each train on average during peak and non-peak times. I learned that some lines cannot increase train frequency as they are already running at the highest frequency of 30 trains per hour and it cannot be increased due to dwell times at stations, caused by blockage of doors and other factors, and capacity limits of the signal system. Each time a train has to reopen its doors as a result of blockage from doors closing, at least 10 seconds is wasted to reopen the doors, make the announcement again, and close the doors.
It is clear from the following link that passenger numbers on every line have been growing from 2005 to 2010, and trains will soon be over maximum capacity is this rate of growth continues.
http://gia.info.gov.hk/general/201106/08/P201106080126_0126_79963.pdf
Some temporary measures have been taken, as seen in this document published by LegCo, and crowding on trains has been alleviated a bit thanks to these plans.
http://www.legco.gov.hk/yr13-14/english/panels/tp/tp_rdp/papers/tp_rdp0228cb1-980-3-e.pdf
New problems have arisen, however, as people now tend to wait for the next train, unlike before when more space was utilized. This means the maximum capacities of trains should now be calculated by 4 ppl/m2 (people per square meter), instead of 6 ppl/m2. The reason for this change is because of the use of electronic devices such as smartphones and tablets, which require more personal space. Another factor is that trains arrive more frequently, so people are more likely to just wait for the next train instead of squeezing into a packed train. This means more measures need to be taken to prevent trains from reaching their capacity, which the Tseung Kwan O line and East Rail Line have already achieved between the busiest stations on those lines during peak times, if calculated using 4 ppl/m2.
I have looked at maps and satellite images of Hong Kong to determine if the current lines go through densely populated areas and which densely populated areas lack MTR stations in their vicinity. I also researched the populations of different areas and districts to gain a more accurate image and researched future construction projects of new towns to determine where new lines and stations should be built. I also researched the proposed and planned MTR lines to see if any improvements could be made to those plans. A lot of Kowloon, especially Kowloon City, is densely populated, yet it lacks MTR stations. Even with the Shatin-Central rail link, which adds four new stations in the area, a lot of Kowloon is still not within the reach of a station.
It is clear from the following link that passenger numbers on every line have been growing from 2005 to 2010, and trains will soon be over maximum capacity is this rate of growth continues.
http://gia.info.gov.hk/general/201106/08/P201106080126_0126_79963.pdf
Some temporary measures have been taken, as seen in this document published by LegCo, and crowding on trains has been alleviated a bit thanks to these plans.
http://www.legco.gov.hk/yr13-14/english/panels/tp/tp_rdp/papers/tp_rdp0228cb1-980-3-e.pdf
New problems have arisen, however, as people now tend to wait for the next train, unlike before when more space was utilized. This means the maximum capacities of trains should now be calculated by 4 ppl/m2 (people per square meter), instead of 6 ppl/m2. The reason for this change is because of the use of electronic devices such as smartphones and tablets, which require more personal space. Another factor is that trains arrive more frequently, so people are more likely to just wait for the next train instead of squeezing into a packed train. This means more measures need to be taken to prevent trains from reaching their capacity, which the Tseung Kwan O line and East Rail Line have already achieved between the busiest stations on those lines during peak times, if calculated using 4 ppl/m2.
I have looked at maps and satellite images of Hong Kong to determine if the current lines go through densely populated areas and which densely populated areas lack MTR stations in their vicinity. I also researched the populations of different areas and districts to gain a more accurate image and researched future construction projects of new towns to determine where new lines and stations should be built. I also researched the proposed and planned MTR lines to see if any improvements could be made to those plans. A lot of Kowloon, especially Kowloon City, is densely populated, yet it lacks MTR stations. Even with the Shatin-Central rail link, which adds four new stations in the area, a lot of Kowloon is still not within the reach of a station.