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Hong Kong'srail network mainly comprises public transport trains operated by theMTR Corporation Limited (MTRC). The MTRC operates themetro network of the territory, the commuter rail network connecting the northeastern, northwestern and southwesternNew Territories to the urban areas, and alight rail network in northwesternNew Territories. The operations of the territory's two leading railway companies, MTRC and theKowloon-Canton Railway Corporation (KCRC), were merged in 2007on grounds ofeconomies of scale and cost effectiveness.[citation needed] The Hong Kong Government has an explicit stated[clarification needed] transport policy of using railways as its transport backbone.[1]
In addition to the MTR network, there are several smaller-scale railways run by different operators, including thePeak Tram and theHong Kong Tramways, and other systems including theDisneyland Railroad and theOcean Express.
The first mode of rail transport for the public inHong Kong was thePeak Tram, servingThe Peak (atVictoria Gap), theMid-Levels andthe city centre since 1888. This was followed by theMount Parker Cable Car in 1892, but this system was terminated in 1932 and dismantled. Thetram started service along the northern coast of theHong Kong Island in 1904. TheBritish Section of the Kowloon–Canton Railway (later the KCR East Rail, and now the East Rail line), a conventional railway, was opened in 1910.
It was not until 1979 that a rapid transit system, theMTR, was opened. Three years later, the British Section of the Kowloon–Canton Railway began its transition towards electrification, which changed it into a commuter rail, and eventually providing rapid transit-like service. TheLight Rail Transit (LRT, now the MTR Light Rail) began its operation in theTuen Mun andYuen Long new towns in 1988. The two railway companies,MTR Corporation Limited andKowloon-Canton Railway Corporation, merged their operations in 2007 to form a single rapid transit network, with the KCRC granting the MTRCL a service concession to operate their KCR network.
In 2018, theGuangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong High Speed Railway opened to connectHong Kong with theMainland Chinese high speed network through a 26-kilometre (16 mi) tunnel within Hong Kong toWest Kowloon station. It has many train services to manyMainland Chinese cities such asBeijing,Guangzhou andShenzhen, until service was suspended since midnight of 30 January 2020 amidst thecoronavirus pandemic.
There are several extensions planned, such asTung Chung West station andNorth Island line.
Includinglines owned and most of which previously operated by theKCR Corporation, theMTR network for local service comprises 10heavy rail lines with 97railway stations[needs update] and onelight rail network with 68 stops:
This system makes about HK$2 billion in profit in 2014 which is mainly generated from its property holding and development business.[5][needs update] Its portfolio include two of the city's tallest skyscrapers.[5]
Commonly known asthrough train (chi. 直通車), theMTRC and railway companies of mainland China jointly provided cross-border train services fromHung Hom station,Kowloon, sharing most of the tracks with theEast Rail line, to destinations inmainland China through neighbouringShenzhen on three Through Train routes, namely Beijing line (to/fromBeijing West), Shanghai line (to/fromShanghai) andGuangdong line (to/fromGuangzhou East); these services have been suspended since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic from 30 January 2020 onwards. The Through Train service to Guangzhou (formerly Canton) was a legacy of Hong Kong's first railway, theKowloon–Canton Railway. Outside Hong Kong it was operated through therail network in mainland China, including theGuangshen railway,Jingguang railway andHukun railway.
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A high-speed rail link connects Hong Kong withShenzhen andGuangzhou in mainland China. TheHong Kong section of theGuangzhou–Shenzhen–Hong Kong Express Rail Link (sometimes abbreviated "XRL HK section") is a 26-km long stretch ofhigh-speed rail that links Hong Kong tomainland China. The Hong Kong section opened for commercial service on 23 September 2018.[6] FromWest Kowloon Terminus, trains run through regional stations in Guandong Province, includingFutian,Longhua (Shenzhen North), andHumen, toGuangzhou South station and other cities in other provinces.[7][8]
With the completion of the rail link, the journey times have been reduced to 14 minutes between West Kowloon and Futian stations, 23 minutes between Hong Kong and Shenzhen North and 48 minutes between Hong Kong and Guangzhou South.[9] The service is a cooperation between theMTR Corporation andCR Guangzhou.
West Kowloon station is served by both short-distance and long-haul train services. Short-distance services consist of a frequent service to mainland Chinese cities in neighbouring Guangdong province, including Shenzhen, Dongguan and Guangzhou, while long-distance services link Hong Kong to at least 16 major destinations in mainland China, including Beijing West, Shijiazhuang, Zhengzhou East, Wuhan, Changsha South and Shanghai Hongqiao.[10]
A new railway connecting Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Hong Kong was proposed in the late 1990s by theGovernment of Hong Kong. ThisRegional Express Railway (RER) proposal was developed in the 1994 “Railway Development Study” (RDS); it foresaw a continual growth of Hong Kong's population over the next two decades and strong demand for cross-border passenger traffic.[11] By 2002, the concept of “regional express” gained further development and the proposal was advanced to be a high-speed rail line.[12] Construction of the Hong Kong section began in 2010. Following delays and controversies,[13][14][15] West Kowloon station was formally opened on 4 September 2018 and high speed trains started to run on the rail link to destinations in Mainland China from 23 September 2018.[16]
| Station Name English | Station Name Chinese | Total Distance | Transfer | Location | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hong Kong West Kowloon | 香港西九龍 /香港西九龙 |  Tung Chung lineAirport Express(viaKowloon)Tuen Ma line(viaAustin) | Yau Tsim Mong,Hong Kong | ||
A second cross-border express railway, theHong Kong–Shenzhen Western Express Railway, was proposed in the 2000s but shelved amidst concern over costs and the environment. The shelved proposal has been revived in October 2021 by the territory's then Chief Executive.[17][18][19]
Apart from the XRL mentioned above, MTR's trainsets for the Guangdong service, namelyLok 2000 locomotives and its carriages theKtt, are designed to be able to run at 200 kilometres per hour (120 mph) but do not operate at those speeds on the tracks of the East Rail. TheSP1900 EMUs (IKK trains; in reference to theItochu,Kinki Sharyo andKawasaki consortium) on theTuen Ma line and formerly on the East Rail may run at 160 kilometres per hour (99 mph) but also do not operate at those speeds on those lines.
 | This section needs to beupdated. The reason given is: It has been extended to the SkyPier and the Midfield Concourse. A second system is being built for T2 and the new satellite terminal for the third runway. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.(October 2021) |
There is anAutomated People Mover (APM),[20] a driverless electric train service, which is located at the basement level of Terminal 1 ofHong Kong International Airport. It travels the length of the 750-metre (2,460 ft) concourse between the East Hall and West Hall on a circular mode. Running at a speed of 62 km per hour, each APM carries 304 passengers in four cars. The APM operates every 2.5 minutes from 0600 to 0030 hours every day. It transports passengers whose flights are located at the West Hall, Southwest and Northwest concourses.
An Automated People Mover was also proposed by the territory's Chief Executive to connectTsim Bei Tsui,Lau Fau Shan andPak Nai in northwestern New Territories by theDeep Bay.[17][21][22][23]
Rail gauges and power supply of Hong Kong rails.
| Rail | Rail gauge | Power supply | Remarks | Signal system | Height of platform | Width of widest car (mm) | Loading gauge width (mm) | Height of tallest car (mm) | Height clearance | Height of contact wire (mm) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MTR Island line, South Island line, Kwun Tong line, Tseung Kwan O line, Tsuen Wan line (collectively Urban Lines except for South Island line)[citation needed] | 1,432 mm (4 ft 8+3⁄8 in) (except forWest Island line, South Island line, andKwun Tong line extension) (almoststandard gauge) 1435 mm (West Island line, South Island line, and Kwun Tong line extension) | 1500 V DC [1] | overhead cable | Urban Lines: SACEM andSACEM-SICAS for TKL, all lines to be upgraded toSelTrac in the 2020s Alstom Urbalis 400 | 1100 mm (43.3 in) | 3118 | 3250 (with fixed platform gap filler) 3312 (without gap filler) 3940 (without platform)[24] | 3700 (MTR Metro Cammell EMU (DC) without pantograph) 3910 (MTR Metro Cammell EMU (DC) with pantograph folded) | 3755 mm (without pantograph)[24] 4100 mm (with pantograph folded) (~4904 mm with pantograph folded in depots) | 4200 mm (nominal and min., as built to same standards as Tung Chung line and Airport Express); (~5029 mm in depots) | |
| MTR Tung Chung line, Airport Express (collectively known as Airport Railway) | 1,432 mm (4 ft 8+3⁄8 in) (almoststandard gauge) | 1500 V DC (nominal) [2]; 1520 ± 20 V DC (in practice)[25] | SACEM, all lines to be upgraded toSelTrac in the 2020s | 1250 mm (49.2 in)[24] | 3118 (MTR Rotem EMU) | 3250 (with fixed platform gap filler) 3312 (without gap filler) 3940 (without platform)[24] | 3700 (MTR Adtranz–CAF EMU without pantograph) | 3755 mm (without pantograph)[24] 4100 mm (with pantograph folded) (~4904 mm with pantograph folded in depots) | 4200 mm (nominal and min.); 4224.78 mm (mean); 4230 mm (max. on running lines)[25](~5029 mm in depot) | ||
| MTR Disneyland Resort line | 1500 V DC [3] | SelTrac CBTC/R UTO | 1100 mm (43.3 in) | 3096 | 3250 (with fixed platform gap filler) 3312 (without gap filler) 3940 (without platform)[24] | 3700 (without pantograph) 3910 (with pantograph folded) | 3755 mm (without pantograph)[24] 4100 mm (with pantograph folded) (~4904 mm with pantograph folded in depots) | 4200 mm (nominal and min., as built to same standards as Tung Chung line and Airport Express); (~5029 mm in depot) (note: depot shared with Airport Railway) | |||
| MTR East Rail line, Tuen Ma line (formerly operated byKCR/KCRC) | 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) (Standard gauge) | 25 kV AC | electrical supply same standard asrailways in mainland China | East Rail line: Siemens Trainguard MT CBTC Tuen Ma line:SelTrac CBTC DTO | 3 ft 6 in (1066.8mm)[26] | 3220 (MTR Hyundai Rotem EMU)[clarification needed] | 3250 (with fixed platform gap filler) 3300 (without gap filler) ~3900 (without platform) | 4600 (Ktt Kinki Sharyo coach)[27] | 16 ft 6 in (5029.2 mm) (with pantograph folded) | 17 ft 4 in (5283.2 mm)[26] (nominal and minimum) | |
| MTR Light Rail (formerly operated by KCR/KCRC) | 750 V DC | SiemensTrainguard IMU 100 | 910 mm (35.8 in) | 2650 | 2670 | 5250 mm (with pantograph folded) | 5300 mm (nominal and minimum) | ||||
| Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link Hong Kong section | 25 kV AC | everything[clarification needed] same standard asrailways in mainland China | 1250 mm (49.2 in) | 3380 | 3400 | 5300 mm[28] (nominal and minimum) | |||||
| Peak Tram | 1,520 mm (4 ft 11+27⁄32 in) (Russian gauge) | N/A | N/A | Funicular | |||||||
| Hong Kong Tramways | 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) | 550 V DC | overhead cable | N/A | 20 ft 8 in (6299.2 mm) (with trolley pole folded) (estimated) | 21 ft (6400.8 mm) (estimated) | |||||
| Hong Kong International Airport Automated People Mover | N/A (Automated guideway transit) | 3-phase 600 V AC | Third Rail | SelTrac | |||||||
| Hong Kong Disneyland Railroad | 3 ft (914 mm) | N/A | powered by three steam-shaped diesel locomotives | ||||||||
| Ocean ParkOcean Express [zh] | 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) (Standard gauge) | Funicular | |||||||||
