Light Rail (MTR)

The Light Rail, also known as the Light Rail Transit (LRT), officially the North-West Railway, is a light rail system in Hong Kong, serving the northwestern New Territories, within Tuen Mun District and Yuen Long District. The system operates over 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge track, using 750 V DC overhead power supply. It was once one of four systems comprising the KCR network in Hong Kong, before the MTR–KCR merger in 2007. It has a daily ridership of about 483,000 people. The network is coloured goldenrod on the MTR map.

When Tuen Mun was developed in the 1970s, the Hong Kong government set aside space for the laying of rail tracks. There was uncertainty however as to which company would be chosen to build the railway. In 1982, Hong Kong Tramways showed interest in building the system and running double-decker trams on it, before abandoning the project after negotiations over land premiums for related property development failed. The government sought another builder. The Mass Transit Railway Corporation (MTRC) was "heavily indebted" at the time, and so Secretary for Transport Alan Scott invited the Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation (KCRC) to consider the project instead. The KCRC announced they would build the system in 1984 to a budget of $1.5 billion, after investigating ways to improve commercial viability. After some research, construction commenced on 14 July 1985.

By that time, Kowloon Motor Bus (KMB) had developed its own network in Tuen Mun and Yuen Long, and there were about 10 routes serving within the districts internally, most of them profitable. However, the government introduced the concept of the "Light Rail Service Area" in both districts, within which the LRT would monopolise all public transport services, forcing the KMB to withdraw all internal bus services in favour of the Light Rail. It also forced the KMB to impose boarding and alighting restrictions for external routes. It was decided that services between town centres and settlements would be provided solely by the Light Rail, while feeder buses operated by the KCRC would connect remote sites to the network, replacing KMB's equivalent services where applicable.

The system was completed and fully operational in September 1988. The first section was opened to the public on 14 September 1988, with free rides between Tuen Mun and Yuen Long; normal, all-day service began four days later, on 18 September. The system consisted of two large and three small loops serving most of the public housing estates in northern Tuen Mun. Three branches: one to On Ting Estate in the southeast, one to the Tuen Mun Ferry Pier in the southwest and another northern branch all the way into the town of Yuen Long along Castle Peak Road. It was then known as Light Rail Transit or LRT and is also called as the North-west Railway according to the Kowloon–Canton Railway Corporation Ordinance and Mass Transit Railway (North-west Railway) Bylaw.

The transit system is the first and the only one in Hong Kong to adopt a zonal fare system. The feeder buses have fares independent of these zones, but provide discounts when passengers interchange between these buses and LRT. Seventy single-deck LRVs were manufactured in Melbourne and Brisbane, Australia by Comeng, to be shipped to Hong Kong for the seven LRT routes in the system. Three of the routes were to Yuen Long and the others were confined to Tuen Mun.

The system's first extension came for the southern and eastern parts of Tuen Mun. The eastern extension branches off the main line south of Siu Hong stop and crosses the river that runs through Tuen Mun immediately with a flyover. The line then runs along Castle Peak Road to a road north of the town centre, where it climbs to another flyover and rejoins the main route. The northern end of this extension is still the only non-triangular junction in the entire system.

The southern extension mainly consists of a route linking On Ting and Ferry Pier, on the newly reclaimed land near the river mouth of Tuen Mun River, known as "Mouse Island" by locals. A short spur was also built from the extension to another terminus at Sam Shing Estate, located near Castle Peak Bay. Three LRT routes were diverted (route 505 was extended to Sam Shing) and one feeder bus route (route 559) discontinued as a result of these changes.

Tin Shui Wai was originally an area with numerous fish ponds, but was developed as a residential new town in the early 1990s. With the increase of internal commuter traffic demand, an LRT spur was built north of Hung Shui Kiu stop that opened in 1993, with four stops serving the initial housing areas of the town. The area was further developed in the next few years and the line was extended by two stops: Chestwood and Tin Wing stop in 1995 (Tin Shui Wai Terminus was renamed Tin Wing after the opening of West Rail line). Two LRT routes were established, route 720 (now 751) to Yau Oi and route 721 Before Changed to (761) Then changed to (761P) to Yuen Long.