Hong Kong’s rail terminus goes ahead

With a total area of over 380,000 square meters, the multi-storey West Kowloon rail terminus, the majority of it located underground, will be larger than most airport terminals, and capable of handling around 99,000 passengers per day. The first trains are expected to run from 2015. The Hong Kong section of the express rail link, operating at up to 200 km per hour, will connect Hong Kong with the capital Beijing over 2,000 kilometers away, passing via Shenzhen, Guangzhou and Wuhan.
October 5, 2012 Read time: 2 mins
With a total area of over 380,000 square meters, the multi-storey West Kowloon rail terminus, the majority of it located underground, will be larger than most airport terminals, and capable of handling around 99,000 passengers per day.

The first trains are expected to run from 2015. The Hong Kong section of the express rail link, operating at up to 200 km per hour, will connect Hong Kong with the capital Beijing over 2,000 kilometers away, passing via Shenzhen, Guangzhou and Wuhan.

A safety glass and steel roof structure spans the building and provides daylight to the terminus with its duty-free shops, restaurants and waiting lounges; the design was a winner in the 2010 World Architecture Festival and also won a 2012 MIPIM Award.

Eighty-one escalators and moving walks will transport travellers and visitors throughout the new terminus and to the station's fifteen platforms. An eco-friendly energy saving system reduces the speed whenever there are no passengers. Depending on passenger volumes this can create energy savings of up to 60%.

Related Content

  • New name offers new solutions
    November 26, 2013
    Pete Goldin examines Nokia’s rationale for combining its location services, digital mapping and other capabilities under the HERE brand. While it has divested itself of its mobile phone business to Microsoft, Nokia has kept hold of its HERE business unit and brand which incorporates the company’s location services with digital mapping and other capabilities. The creation of HERE is much more than rebranding as its services are heading off the map and into the cloud. “HERE offers the first location cloud
    Read More
  • Nicaragua’s alternative Panama canal plans
    July 24, 2014
    Plans for an inter-oceanic canal in Nicaragua have been announced by Hong Kong-based HK Nicaragua Canal Development Investment and its local arm HKND. The US$40 billion project involves the construction of an alternative to the Panama Canal. The proposed 280 kilometre, which aims to compete with the Panama canal, would connect Nicaragua's Caribbean and Pacific coasts. It includes the development of a deepwater port at each end of the canal, an oil pipeline running alongside it a dry canal for the transpo
    Read More
  • Thales to upgrade four London Underground lines
    August 4, 2015
    French transportation group Thales has been awarded a £750 million (US$1,160 million) contract by Transport for London (TfL) to upgrade four London Underground (LU) lines. Under the contract, Thales will modernise the signalling and train control system on the Circle, District, Metropolitan and Hammersmith & City lines. Known as the Sub-Surface Lines (SSL), the four lines form a complex network of interlinked routes with numerous junctions which comprise 40 per cent of the LU network and carry up to thre
    Read More
  • Metrorex plans new Bucharest underground link
    May 17, 2012
    Bucharest underground operator Metrorex has nearly finished plans to develop its new US$1.35billion M6 underground mainline to link the city centre with Henri Coanda International Airport. The new M6 in the Romanian capital will have a length of 14km and take in 12 stations. Metrorex has changed the initial project plans by adding two new stations to cover the residential area and Baneasa Commercial Park.
    Read More

Highlighted Content