Ordinary Gweilo

They print so many stupid letters in the SCMP, but this one is spectacular:

Combine two MTR rail lines

There has been much discussion (or rather negative feedback) from East Rail Line passengers after the West Rail Line was extended to Tsim Sha Tsui East while the East Rail Line now terminates at Hung Hom.

The change of terminus has caused problems for East Rail passengers, as it is now at an inconvenient location. Some people would rather change to the Central Line at Kowloon Tong, which makes that route even more crowded.

I think the best solution is for the MTR Corporation to merge the East and West lines. They would form an (almost) U-shaped route, from Lo Wu to Tuen Mun. There would not have to be a terminus in Tsim Sha Tsui East or Hung Hom.

I do not have the technical specifications of the trains, however, I think that modern-day locomotives should be able to run long distances. If the fatigue of the drivers is a concern, then drivers can change in Hung Hom.

The fact that the East Rail Line used to terminate in Tsim Sha Tsui East station, before the West Rail extension was completed, means that the train design and the platform design allow East Rail trains to go through the Tsim Sha Tsui East station and the rest of the West Rail stations.

For the same reason, if West Rail trains can terminate in Hung Hom, they should be able to run through the rest of the stations along the East Rail Line.

Karina Lam, Sha Tin

Well, why not?  Could it because East Rail trains are longer and run more frequently?  I think it could.  If the MTR ran East Rail trains through to Tuen Mun they would be half-empty.  It would also cost a lot of money because they would need to purchase a lot of extra rolling stock to extend West Rail trains to the same length as East Rail.

Luckily, the MTR have a different plan.  A more logical plan.  They will link up West Rail with the other ugly duckling (Ma On Shan Line), and extend East Rail across to Hong Kong island.  If there are any journalists left at the SCMP and they have access to the archives they would surely find some stories about this plan, and then they might have thought twice about printing this stupid letter.