New, Shorter Trains On East Rail Line From Saturday

The MTR Corporation says new shorter trains, with only nine carriages rather than the usual 12, will start running on the East Rail Line from Saturday.

The railway operator says the move is to prepare for when trains eventually cross the harbour as part of the Shatin-Central Link, being as the current trains are too long.

Chief of operating Sammy Wong said on Friday that six new trains will be coming into service this weekend, and the old ones will continue to be used for some time.

“We will introduce them [the new trains] in a gradual way, so passengers will have time to get used to the waiting arrangements on the platforms,” he said.

The corporation said the new trains are wider so there's more space for people to stand, but with three fewer carriages, their capacity is reduced by 20 percent compared to the existing trains.

However, Wong said the company is confident it can still meet passenger demand.

“The passenger capacity does not count on the number of carts, but also on how we manage the whole operation of the trains. In peak hours of busy stations and sections, we will have special arrangements for introducing empty trains to alleviate the demand there,” he explained.

Wong added that the number of passengers has dropped by 30 percent in the past year due to the pandemic, and he estimates that more people will start using phase 1 of the relatively new Tuen-Ma Line, further reducing demand on the East Rail Line.