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SCMP

This article was first published on December 22, 2004.
By Elaine Wu
The school holidays ensured a bumper turnout of enthusiastic boys to back up the dignitaries cheering off the first train on the new $10 billion Ma On Shan rail line, which departed the Tai Wai terminus yesterday afternoon with great fanfare.
Most of those leading the queue for the first ride were teenage boys with cameras dangling from their necks.
They raced up the platform to take seats in the leading carriage and let loose screams at various points during the ride.
Primary Five student Chan Chun-ho had come all the way from his Tsing Yi home with his mother to ride the first train - and he wasn’t disappointed. “It was very fast and convenient. The atmosphere was good,” he said.

But there were some red faces amid the smiles when the new Kowloon-Canton Railway line was hit by a three-minute delay within its first hour of operation. A train overshot the City One station at 3.45pm, parking only two of its four carriages at the platform.
An announcement alerted passengers to the delay but did not give an explanation, leading to some confusion. “I don’t know what happened at City One station,” said Larry Chu, a Ma On Shan resident. “I guess they are still testing it. But the overall ride was pretty good.”
The train was sent for testing after arriving at the Tai Wai terminus, but last night the cause of the problem was still unknown.

The line, which took four years to build, opened at 3pm, finally bringing rail services to residents in eastern New Territories.
Financial Secretary Henry Tang Ying-yen told the Tai Wai opening ceremony the line marked the completion of three rail construction targets the government set in 1994, the others being the West Rail and Tseung Kwan O lines.
Despite the hiccup at City One, passengers said they were happy about the new route. Tejaswini Zumbre, a 33-year-old teacher who rode the first train to leave Tai Wai, said: “I really found the view breathtaking compared with other lines in Hong Kong. I’m very happy about it. I came especially to see it.”
Zumbre said the line would make getting around town easier because she lived only a 10-minute walk from the Sha Tin Wai station. Before the new line opened, she had to take a minibus to the East Rail line.

But not everyone was happy. A group of local residents protested outside Tai Wai station before the opening ceremony. They said train fares were too high and they were worried because some bus routes were likely to be cut.
Sha Tin district councillor Chow Ka-kong yelled out during the opening ceremony after KCRC chairman Michael Tien Puk-sun gave his speech.
Chow was complaining that a free shuttle bus from City One will begin charging passengers.


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Hong Kong transport

A long queue of passengers waiting to board the first train of the Ma On Shan rail line service at KCRC’s Tai Wai Station on December 21, 2004. Photo: Martin Chan

Ma On Shan station. Photo: Handout

Financial secretary Henry Tang Ying-yen (centre), accompanied by KCRC chairman Michael Tien Puk-sun (left), officiates at the Ma On Shan rail line on December 21, 2004. Photo: Martin Chan

Financial secretary Henry Tang (centre), accompanied by KCRC chairman Michael Tien (left), officiates at the Ma On Shan rail line on December 21, 2004. Photo: Martin Chan

Hong Kong MTR doubling capacity on Ma On Shan Line by converting to eight-car trains

MTR staff members will help the public on platforms of the Ma On Shan Line as the new trains are introduced. Photo: K. Y. Cheng

MTR Ma On Shan Line's 4-car trains will be replaced by 8-car trains gradually. 01NOV16 SCMP/K. Y. Cheng

Two Hong Kong rail lines to open two hours late on May 2 to accommodate test run on section of MTR’s Sha Tin-Central link

Trains on the West Rail and Tuen Ma phase 1 lines will begin running two hours late on May 2. Photo: K. Y. Cheng

MTR Corp divisional general manager James Chow (left) and chief of operation Sammy Wong announce a test un on the full Tuen Ma line on Wednesday. Photo: K.Y. Cheng

Home rents along Hong Kong’s East Rail Line expected to rebound quickly after opening of new cross-harbour extension

MTR Exhibition Centre Station Open Day allowed the public to experience the new station’s facilities on Monday. Photo: Nora Tam

The MTR’s Shatin to Central link at Hung Hom Station. Commuters from Tai Wai and Sha Tin will be able to travel directly to Admiralty from Sunday, instead of changing lines in Kowloon Tong and Mong Kok currently. Photo: Sam Tsang

News

Hong Kong

Transport

In 2004, schoolboys and rail buffs flocked to the inauguration of the HK$10 billion Ma On Shan railway


In 2004, schoolboys and rail buffs flocked to the inauguration of the HK$10 billion Ma On Shan railway.


From our archives

On This Day | Confetti gun salutes first train to run on Hong Kong’s Ma On Shan line – from SCMP archive

In 2004, schoolboys and rail buffs flocked to the inauguration of the HK$10 billion Ma On Shan railway