Passengers wait Four Hours for Free Ride on Lantau Cable Car in Hong Kong

Before the resume of the Ngong Ping 360 Cable Car on 31Dec, the cable car company arranged their employees and relatives for a free trial.

On the fourth day (on Christmas day), more than 10,000 people took a ride on the Lantau cable car and the management would like to test the new system's ability to handle heavy crowds. During the day, people have to wait for over 4 hours to get on the cable car and lots of people complain on the arrangement. There are elderly people who cannot wait for such long period and have to return without taking part in the trial. There were also cases where the staff told passengers to return in the afternoon to avoid the long queue but only to know that the cable car company decided to stop the queue at 3:30pm. Those poor passengers have to return without taking this free ride.

Also, there are still stoppages (for a few minutes each time) during the operation. The cable car management advised that it is normal and have nothing to worry about. Nevertheless, I suggest to let the operation runs smooth first before taking part if you are interested.

Ngong Ping 360 Cable Car to Resume on 31Dec in Hong Kong

Ngong Ping 360 cable car is planning to resume operation on 31Dec07. Since the fall of a cable car a few months agao (note that it is after operation and no person is in the cable car), the cable car management team has been replaced by the MTR management team.

Yesterday, the Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development was there for the pre-run and although there is some minor operation issue, everything seems to be smooth. So if you are planning to visit Hong Kong end this year or early next year, you can now plan to take the cable car to Ngong Ping.

http://www.np360.com.hk/html/eng/front/index.asp

A new generation in Hong Kong Railway - MTR

Today is the first day which sees the merger between the merger between the Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation (KCRC) and the MTR Corporation Limited (MTRCL). The new company will use the MTRCL name and provide all train services to Hong Kong people.

I have attached the latest railway map for reference. After the merger, there will be fare discount on almost all trips. I have extracted some discount schemes below:

(a) The Second Boarding Charge will be abolished, resulting in fare reductions of HK$1 to HK$7 for passengers interchanging between the existing MTR and KCR networks

(b) All fares will be reduced by HK$0.2

(c) Long distance journeys with fares at or above HK$12 will be further reduced by HK$1

(d) For those long distance journeys with fares at or above HK$12 where (a), (b) and (c) do not add up to a 10% saving, a further reduction will be offered to achieve the 10% saving

(e) Medium distance journeys with fares from HK$8.5 to HK$11.9 will be reduced by a minimum of 5%. If (a) and (b) do not add up to a 5% saving, a further reduction will be offered to achieve the 5% reduction

For me personally, seems like I will be saving HK$0.4 per day. Better than nothing right...

Hong Kong Transportation

Hong Kong, with a land area of only 1,099 square kilometres of which about 17 per cent is built-up, has a population of more than six million.

Every day, over 11 million passenger journeys are made on a public transport system which includes two high capacity railways, trams, buses, minibuses, taxis and ferries.
There are about 275 licensed vehicles for every kilometre of road, and the topography makes it increasingly difficult to provide additional road capacity in the heavily built-up areas.

MTR is an underground railway network with seven lines and 53 stations. Operated by the MTR Corporation Limited, each line was built in stages with the first passenger train starting operation in October 1979. Tseung Kwan O Line and Disneyland Resort Line came into service in August 2002 and August 2005 respectively. The total route length of Kwun Tong Line, Tsuen Wan Line, Island Line, Tseung Kwan O Line, Tung Chung Line, Disneyland Resort Line and Airport Express Line is 91 kilometres. Single adult fares range from $4 to $26, and $60 to $100 for Airport Express Line.

Playing one of the key roles in Hong Kong public transport, taxi provides a convenient personalized point-to-point transport service. At present there are 18,138 taxis in Hong Kong, of which 15,250 are urban taxis, 2,838 are NT taxis and 50 are Lantau taxis. The average daily taxi patronage is about 1 million.

Urban taxis operate throughout Hong Kong including the airport and Hong Kong Disneyland, (except Tung Chung Road and roads in south Lantau). NT taxis are fundamentally confined to rural areas in the New Territories, the airport, Hong Kong Disneyland and are permitted to several certain locations in the urban area through specified routes. Lantau taxis operate only on Lantau Island (including the airport and Hong Kong Disneyland).