Source: Hong Kong Information Services
The Highways Department promulgated the Hong Kong Railway Standards and also announced the official establishment of the Railway Checking Unit today to expedite implementation of new railway projects.
The establishment ceremony was officiated by Director of Highways Tony Yau, with numerous railway experts and representatives of relevant government departments in attendance.
In his address, Mr Yau remarked that capitalising on the opportunities brought by two cross-boundary railway projects, namely the Northern Link and the Hong Kong-Shenzhen Western Rail Link, we formulated the Hong Kong Railway Standards in collaboration with relevant government departments and railway experts.
In addition to retaining the prevailing railway standards in the city, the Hong Kong Railway Standards have introduced suitable railway standards of the nation and various places in the world, including European Norm, Institute of Electrical & Electronics Engineers’s standards, International Electrotechnical Commission’s standards and International Organization for Standardization’s standards, with adaptation to local circumstances, as a result of detailed analyses and comparisons on the premise of ensuring railway safety, quality, and performance‑based outcomes.
He further stated that the new Hong Kong Railway Standards could facilitate the use of a broader selection of advanced construction technologies, construction materials, equipment, and railway systems for railway projects, provide clear technical specifications as the approval basis of the supervisory authorities, and also facilitate the development and optimisation of work processes by the industry.
This move helps to leverage and introduce the extensive experience and world-leading technologies in railway construction of our nation, as well as the recognised standards in other parts of the world, with a view to driving the new railway projects of Hong Kong with enhanced speed and efficiency, and striving for shorter construction times and lower costs, Mr Yau added.
Under the Hong Kong Railway Standards, the industry could flexibly apply suitable standards to different railway projects on account of their individual needs and characteristics, after holistic consideration of factors such as cost-effectiveness, technical requirements, supply chain conditions, site environment and labour and machinery resources.
The standards encourage the use of innovative construction machinery, technologies and materials, such as use of larger or more extensive use of standardised prefabrication technology, high-strength structural steel and ultra-high-performance concrete, as well as advanced equipment and construction specifications, such as the model selection, design, construction, and control of tunnel boring machines.