Tunnel between Kowloon and Shatin - original route

Submitted by OldTimer on Tue, 03/17/2020 - 14:46

Greetings!  The tunnel alignment between Kowloon Tong and north portal - Shatin in the current map appears to show it remains operational for MTR.  There are photos showing it is now used to convey water.  Thank you in advance for clearing up my understanding.  Regards,   Peter 

Hi Peter,

If you visit this map: https://www.map.gov.hk/gm/geo:22.3502,114.1723?z=1128, you should see two sets of dotted lines running up and down the screen.

The one on the left is the newer, wider, double-track tunnel that is currently in use by the MTR.

The one on the right is the original, narrower, single-track tunnel that is no longer used for trains, but has been recycled to run water pipes through it: https://gwulo.com/node/12203/photos

Regards, David

Thanks David.

There are indeed two dotted lines running up and down which I believe are the same two tunnels shown on another map - Map 1995 in this link -   hkmaps.hk/mapviewer.html  .   I stumbled upon that 1995 map minutes ago which is actually an old map; and it labels the heavy dash line on the left (west) as Kowloon Canton Railway, and the light dash line on the right as Old Railway Tunnel.  Except for the two ends where they meet in appearance, the two lines are parallel about 120 feet apart.  Regards,  Peter

There's a group proposing that the Beacon Hill Tunnel is repurposed as a cycle connection between Kowloon and Shatin - just a few minutes' pedalling to open up a whole new transport option. It's in good condition, and at six metres high could even incorporate a false floor, to avoid the need to re-route the gas pipes that currently take up this valuable resource.

Many pictures and more info at their page:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/463065017183580/