East Rail's new signalling system reduces one-way passenger capacity by 18%, with 20,000 fewer passengers

The cross-sea section of the MTR East Rail Line will be open to traffic from June to July. In order to meet the operational needs of the cross-sea section, the MTR has switched to a new signaling system, and is gradually changing the original 12 trucks to the new 9 trucks. MTR has revealed that the new cars carry about 24% fewer passengers than older trains.

When answering questions from Legislative Council members on the Budget, the Transport and Housing Bureau disclosed for the first time that the new signalling system is designed to have a maximum passenger capacity of 82,500 one-way per hour, nearly 20,000 fewer than the old system, or a drop of about 18.3%. %.

In addition, the Transport and Housing Bureau also revealed that the passenger load factor of various railway lines during the morning rush hours in 2021. Among them, the busiest section of the Tsuen Wan Line from Yau Ma Tei to Jordan will be 98%, close to full; as for the Tseung Kwan O Line from Yau Tong to Jordan A section of Quarry Bay Station also has a 90% load factor during peak hours.

Authorities said the figures were taken from months when the outbreak was more subdued.

According to the Bureau of Transportation and Housing, according to the information provided by the MTR, before the fifth wave of the epidemic, trains on the East Rail Line run every 3 minutes during peak hours; under the new signal system, 42 trains can run on the system at the same time, reaching Up to about 2 minutes a bus.

However, the maximum passenger capacity of the old and new signalling systems is designed to be 101,000 and 82,500 passengers per hour in one direction respectively, which means that the new system is nearly 20,000 fewer passengers, a sharp drop of about 18.3%.

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The opening of the Tuen Ma Line will divert about 30% of the eastbound southbound passengers

The Bureau of Transportation and Housing stated that the above-mentioned passenger capacity is based on established conditions. The actual situation is affected by train design, train frequency, train service arrangement and passenger demand. Therefore, when comparing the passenger capacity of the two designs, relevant information must be considered. .

For example, the authorities pointed out that after the whole line of the Tuen Ma Line was opened to traffic in the middle of last year, about 30% of the southbound passengers on the East Rail Line were transferred to the Tuen Ma Line to the destination of Kowloon East, which brought about a diversion effect.

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The MTR also disclosed to the Legislative Council earlier that the newly replaced nine-car trains carried about 2,845 passengers by the East Rail; while the total passenger capacity of the 12-car trains was 3,750, that is, each nine-car train would carry 905 fewer passengers, and each Leleka's passenger capacity decreased by about 24%.

According to the information from the Transport and Housing Bureau, the East Rail Line is the busiest hour in the morning, and the busiest one-way section is from Shatin to Tai Wai. The passenger capacity in 2021 will be 30,100 passengers. For example, the passenger load factor is calculated at 4 people standing per square meter. It was 58%, and the authorities said that last year's passenger traffic fell by nearly 50% compared with 2017.

Load factor of railway lines (Legislative Council paper)

Some railway lines are close to bursting during peak hours in the month when the epidemic eased last year

The Bureau of Transportation and Housing's data is based on the months when the epidemic was more subdued last year, and the busy sections of some of the routes are still close to full.

The busiest section of the Tsuen Wan Line is Yau Ma Tei to Jordan, with a passenger load factor of 98% based on 4 people standing per square meter; the busiest section of the Tseung Kwan O Line is Yau Tong to Quarry Bay, with a passenger load rate of 90%; as for Tuen Ma The busiest section of the line is from Tsuen Wan West to Mei Foo, with a load factor of 86%.

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