The Airport Express ( zh, t=機場快綫) is one of the ten rail lines of the Hong Kong

MTR The Mass Transit Railway system, known locally by the initialism MTR, is a rapid transit system in Hong Kong and the territory's principal mode of Rail transport in Hong Kong, railway transportation. Operated by the MTR Corporation (MTRCL), ...

system (excluding the light rail network). It links the urban area with

Hong Kong International Airport Hong Kong International Airport is an international airport on the island of Chek Lap Kok in western Hong Kong. The airport is also referred to as Chek Lap Kok International Airport or Chek Lap Kok Airport, to distinguish it from its predec ...

and the AsiaWorld–Expo exhibition and convention centre. It is the only rail link to the airport. It runs parallel to the

Tung Chung line The Tung Chung line () is one of the ten lines of the MTR system in Hong Kong, linking the town of Tung Chung with central Hong Kong. It was built in the 1990s as part of the Airport Railway project, part of the construction of the new ...

, a rapid transit line, from

Hong Kong station Hong Kong () is a station of the MTR metro system in Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a terri ...

to just south of the channel between

Lantau Island Lantau Island (also Lantao Island, Lan Tao or Lan Tau) is the largest island in Hong Kong, located west of Hong Kong Island and the Kowloon Peninsula, and is part of the New Territories. Administratively, most of Lantau Island is part of the ...

and

Chek Lap Kok Chek Lap Kok is an island in the western waters of Hong Kong's New Territories. Unlike the smaller Lam Chau, it was only partially leveled when it was assimilated via land reclamation into the island for the current Hong Kong International ...

island, on which the airport was constructed. The line continues to the airport and terminates at AsiaWorld–Expo. The Tung Chung line terminates in the adjacent Tung Chung new town, with bus service to various areas at the airport, including the passenger terminals. The journey from

to the airport takes 24 minutes. It is indicated in on the MTR map.

History

In October 1989, the

Hong Kong government The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (commonly known as the Hong Kong Government or HKSAR Government) is the Executive (government), executive authorities of Hong Kong. It was established on 1 July 1997, following the ...

decided to replace the overcrowded Kai Tak Airport, located in

Kowloon Kowloon () is one of the areas of Hong Kong, three areas of Hong Kong, along with Hong Kong Island and the New Territories. It is an urban area comprising the Kowloon Peninsula and New Kowloon. It has a population of 2,019,533 and a populat ...

, with a new airport to be constructed at Chek Lap Kok. The government invited the Mass Transit Railway Corporation to build an express line to the airport. The project began when the Chinese and British governments settled the financial and land agreements in November 1994. During the construction, the consultants for the Lantau Airport Railway, such as Arup, Halcrow, Meinhardt, Hyder Consulting, and others. The Lantau Airport Railway was developed as two separate MTR lines, the Tung Chung line and the Airport Express, with the two lines sharing tracks in some sections. It cost was projected to cost HK$35.1 billion. The Airport Express began service on 6 July 1998, the opening date of the new Hong Kong International Airport. The line initially terminated at Airport station and the entire journey time was 23 minutes. With the opening of Sunny Bay station on the Tung Chung line in June 2005, the total journey time between the Airport and Hong Kong stations was increased to 24 minutes. With the opening of AsiaWorld–Expo, the line was extended to AsiaWorld–Expo station on 20 December 2005 and a journey on the entire route takes 28 minutes.

Route

The Airport Express line runs from

in Central. It crosses beneath

Victoria Harbour Victoria Harbour is a natural landform harbor, harbour in Hong Kong separating Hong Kong Island in the south from the Kowloon Peninsula to the north. It acts as both a major trading hub and tourist attraction of Hong Kong in general. Lying in ...

before stopping at Kowloon station, which was built on

reclaimed land Land reclamation, often known as reclamation, and also known as land fill (not to be confused with a waste landfill), is the process of creating new land from oceans, seas, riverbeds or lake beds. The land reclaimed is known as reclamatio ...

. The line then runs along the western side of the

Kowloon peninsula The Kowloon Peninsula is a peninsula that forms the southern part of the main landmass in the territory of Hong Kong, alongside Victoria Harbour and facing toward Hong Kong Island. The Kowloon Peninsula and the area of New Kowloon are collect ...

, crosses over the Rambler Channel rail bridge to

Tsing Yi Tsing Yi (), sometimes referred to as Tsing Yi Island, is an island in the New Territories of Hong Kong, to the northwest of Hong Kong Island and south of Tsuen Wan. With an area of , the island has been extended drastically by reclamation alo ...

, and stops at Tsing Yi station. The line continues on the Lantau Link and runs parallel to the North Lantau Highway to Airport station before terminating at AsiaWorld–Expo station.https://www.mtr.com.hk/archive/en/services/routemap.pdf The line only shares tracks with the Tung Chung line in the cross-harbour tunnel and from the Lantau Link through the split before reaching the airport island. The two lines have independent tracks and platforms at all stations.

Features

The Airport Express offers more spacious and comfortable trains and stations than other MTR services. On the trains, there are luggage racks next to each door, and each seat is equipped with in-seat loudspeakers for current news, advertisements and announcements shown on LCD televisions in front.

In-town check-in

Airport Express passengers flying with

Cathay Pacific Cathay Pacific Airways Limited, or simply Cathay Pacific, is the flag carrier of Hong Kong, with its head office and main airline hub, hub located at Hong Kong International Airport. The airline's operations and its subsidiaries have schedule ...

, Hong Kong Airlines,

Qantas Qantas ( ), formally Qantas Airways Limited, is the flag carrier of Australia, and the largest airline by fleet size, international flights, and international destinations in Australia and List of largest airlines in Oceania, Oceania. A foundi ...

Singapore Airlines Singapore Airlines (abbreviation: SIA or SQ) is the flag carrier of Singapore with its Airline hub, hub located at Changi Airport. Considered to be one of the world's best carriers, the airline is ranked as a 5-star airline as well as ranked ...

are able to use the in-town check-in service at Hong Kong Station or Kowloon Station (Hong Kong Station only for Singapore Airlines passengers). This includes receiving boarding passes, and checking in luggage, both services usually performed at the airport. This allows travellers to spend time in the city without having to carry their luggage before travelling to the airport bags-free. Each train has a special baggage container car and the checked baggage is scanned in bulk by a mechanised automatic explosive detection system. Upon reaching the airport, baggage is automatically transferred from the express to the traveller's flight. In-town check in is also offered for a greater variety of airlines at both Hong Kong and Kowloon stations. Baggage trolleys, wide fare gates, and free porter services are available at all stations except AsiaWorld–Expo to assist passengers with baggage.

Shuttle bus service

The Airport Express Shuttle Bus is a free service provided exclusively for Airport Express passengers at Hong Kong or Kowloon stations, connecting them with major hotels in the Western District though Quarry Bay on

Hong Kong Island Hong Kong Island () is an island in the southern part of Hong Kong. The island, known originally and on road signs simply as "Hong Kong", had a population of 1,289,500 and a population density of , . It is the second largest island in Hong Kon ...

and the

Yau Tsim Mong District Yau Tsim Mong District is one of 18 districts of Hong Kong, located on the western part of Kowloon Peninsula. It is the core urban area of Kowloon. The district has the second highest population density of all districts, at . The 2016 B ...

and

Hung Hom station Hung Hom () is a passenger railway List of MTR stations, station in Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong. It is an interchange station between the and the domestic services of the MTR network. This station serves the southern terminus of the East Ra ...

in Kowloon. Before boarding, proof of eligibility must be shown, including Airport Express train ticket (Single Journey, Same Day Return, Round Trip, Airport Express Travel Pass), Airline ticket / boarding pass, Airport Staff

Octopus card The Octopus card ( zh, t=, j=baat3 daat6 tung1, is a reusable Contactless payment, contactless stored value smart card for making Electronic money, electronic payments in online or offline systems in Hong Kong. Launched in September 1997 to ...

, AsiaWorld–Expo entry pass or event ticket. The Airport Express Shuttle Bus service was discontinued from 30 June 2020 due to low ridership caused by the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. As of July 2024, the service has been reinstated, providing services to a limited number of hotels in the Hong Kong and Kowloon areas.

On-board WiFi and charging service

WiFi is available on all Airport Express cars, while USB ports and power points are available in the first and last cars.

Graphic identity

The Airport Express visual identity, which includes the logo, vehicle livery, signage, route maps and passenger information, was created in 1999 by Lloyd Northover, the British design consultancy founded by John Lloyd and Jim Northover.

Fare structure

Fares on the Airport Express are substantially higher than main line fares; a separate fare system is used for this line. Single trip or same-day return trips between the Hong Kong, Kowloon and Tsing Yi stations to Airport station cost HK$115, HK$105 and HK$70 respectively. Return tickets within 30 days cost HK$205, HK$185, and HK$120 respectively. Tickets are available at all MTR stations and the MTR online booking service. Although there are no entry gates at Airport station, passengers must still buy tickets from the ticket machines located in the Arrivals Hall, on platform 1 of the airport before boarding the train or at destination platforms (as they will not be able to exit from their destination platform otherwise). Various discounts and rewards programmes are available, such as Group Ticket Discount, free taxi connections, Rewarding programme, Asia Miles programme, etc. Passengers may also buy discounted tickets from local travel agents. Discounts are available for groups of two to four people. Hong Kong residents can also obtain discount coupons, such as those sent from credit card companies. Discounted fares are available to airport staff to encourage commuting on the Airport Express. Same-day return discount will be given to

users who have stayed in AsiaWorld–Expo for at least one hour. The discounted fare costs HK$72, HK$64, and HK$42 from Hong Kong, Kowloon, and Tsing Yi stations respectively, and includes a free connection with other MTR lines. A single trip from the Airport to AsiaWorld–Expo is HK$5. Given their separate fare structure, Airport Express journeys require an out-of-system transfer if coming from or going to other MTR lines that call at the same or connected stations (e.g. coming from Central towards Hong Kong station or transferring between Airport Express and Tung Chung line trains). However, Airport Express passengers using Octopus cards can connect with all other MTR lines for free in conjunction with the Airport Express journey within one hour of arrival at an Airport Express station. In March 2010, the MTR began to replace the magnetic tickets used for single, group, and multiple journey tickets with new "smart tickets" that contain a memory chip. The new system was in full operation by 5 June 2010. Due to the high fares and small catchment areas of the Airport Express stations, some travellers may instead choose to either use the cheaper, local Tung Chung line combined with a bus route, or make their entire journey by bus. Patronage on the Airport Express has been cannibalised by the Tung Chung line running mostly on the same track. Image:AEL Adult toAWE SJT.jpg, A standard single journey ticket towards AsiaWorld–Expo Image:AEL Adult toCity SJT.jpg, A standard single journey ticket towards Hong Kong

Morning Express Service

The Morning Express Service is a special promotional service, allowing passengers from

and

stations to travel to Hong Kong station to get to work daily (excluding Sundays and public holidays) from 7am to 10am for HK$25.

Operation and stations

Before the

, Airport Express services operated every 10 minutes from the start of service (05:54 from Airport and 05:50 from Hong Kong) and every 12 minutes from 23:28 (from Airport) and 00:00 (from Hong Kong) until the last service 00:48. Train service was reduced as passenger ridership was yet to completely recover. From 5 November 2022, train services ran every 15–20 minutes throughout the day. As of 30 July 2024, train services have returned to their pre-pandemic frequency and timetable, though it is unsure when this took place. The Airport Express, along with other MTR metro lines, is monitored by the Operations Control Centre in Tsing Yi.

Rolling stock

The Airport Express is served by 11 CAF-Stock trains built and assembled by

Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles (Grupo CAF, ) is a Spanish publicly listed company which manufactures railway vehicles and equipment and buses through its Solaris Bus & Coach subsidiary. It is based in Beasain, Basque Autonomous Comm ...

in Spain while Adtranz contributed control and traction equipment. These trains were made up of seven cars until 2003. To cope with the extra traffic demand derived from the opening of AsiaWorld-Expo station, an additional car was added to each train to form a total of eight cars. If future demand increases, trains on the AEL are capable of running with ten cars. In service, the trains travel at a maximum speed of . The train interiors saw their first refurbishment in 2008, after ten years in service. The grey seat covers were replaced with purple and green ones, and a new indigo carpet was installed. The interior was updated yet again in 2020, and new seat covers featuring the blue and aquamarine AEL logos and a grey wave pattern will be paired with synthetic leather head rests.

Price

Price of the airport express train in

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

is about 65$+ HKD from , Airport or AsiaWorld-Expo to others stations for adult and for Kids is 50$+ HKD from , Airport or AsiaWorld-Expo

Stations

This is a list of the

stations Station may refer to: Agriculture * Station (Australian agriculture), a large Australian landholding used for livestock production * Station (New Zealand agriculture), a large New Zealand farm used for grazing by sheep and cattle ** Cattle stat ...

on the Airport Express line. List

Use in media

In late 1998,

Leon Lai Leon Lai Ming Silver Bauhinia Star, SBS Bronze Bauhinia Star, BBS Medal of Honour (Hong Kong), MH ( zh, 黎明; born 11 December 1966), is a Hong Kong actor, singer, film director, and businessman. He is one of the "Cantopop#1990s: Four Heav ...

showed a music video of MTR's Airport Express line for the song "Happy 2000", which includes the interior of the A-Train. In the film ''

Shock Wave 2 ''Shock Wave 2'' is a 2020 Hong Kong-Chinese action film written and directed by Herman Yau, produced by and starring Andy Lau. The film is a standalone sequel to the 2017 film ''Shock Wave'', featuring a new storyline and characters. In the fi ...

'', a CAF-Train of the Airport Express was hijacked and planted with bombs, afterwards one of the terrorists drove it towards

Design limitations

When

British Hong Kong Hong Kong was under British Empire, British rule from 1841 to 1997, except for a Japanese occupation of Hong Kong, brief period of Japanese occupation during World War II from 1941 to 1945. It was a crown colony of the United Kingdom from 1841 ...

was planning to build the Airport Railway (

and Airport Express) in the 1990s, a few years before the planned handover to China, the

Chinese government The government of the People's Republic of China is based on a system of people's congress within the parameters of a Unitary state, unitary communist state, in which the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) enacts its policies through people's ...

raised concerns about the effect of the project on the territory's fiscal reserves, which eventually forced the (British) Hong Kong government to reduce the cost of the Airport Railway. The resulting changes made imposed design limitations on the level of service on the line. * The airport rail link was originally designed to accommodate four tracks, two each for the Airport Express and Tung Chung line. It was later reduced to two tracks where both services share the same trackage. As a result, signal failures can affect both services. * The Lantau Link section of the line (consisting of the Tsing Ma Bridge, Ma Wan Viaduct, and Kap Shui Mun Bridge) only allows one train to pass through each direction at the same time, raising the minimum

headway Headway is the distance or duration between vehicles in a transit system. The ''minimum headway'' is the shortest such distance or time achievable by a system without a reduction in the speed of vehicles. The precise definition varies depending on ...

between trains to 2 minutes 15 seconds. * The signalling system is not capable of giving priority to Airport Express trains; as a result, Tung Chung line trains stopping at Sunny Bay station frequently impede Airport Express trains, which do not serve the station. * The power supply system restricts the number of trains running between

and Lai King stations. The system can accommodate a maximum of one Airport Express train and two Tung Chung trains travelling in both directions at one time. The minimum headway on this section of the line is 3 minutes 30 seconds.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Airport Express (Mtr) 1432 mm gauge railways in Hong Kong Immersed tube tunnels in Hong Kong MTR lines Railway lines opened in 1998 Transport in Hong Kong Airport rail links in China