The Tai Lam Tunnel () on the MTR

Tuen Ma line The Tuen Ma line () is a rapid transit line that forms part of the Mass Transit Railway (MTR) system in Hong Kong. Coloured brown on the map, the Tuen Ma line is in length, making it the longest line of the MTR network. It has a total of ...

, at , was previously the longest transport tunnel in

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...

. It was completed in 2003. The tunnel was built by a joint venture between Nishimatsu and Dragages.

Major incidents

The Tai Lam Tunnel was the location of a major explosion on 14 February 2007. At 09:15, a

West Rail The West Rail line () was a rapid transit line that formed part of the Mass Transit Railway (MTR) system in Hong Kong until 27 June 2021. Coloured magenta on the MTR map, the line ran from Tuen Mun to Hung Hom, with a total length of , i ...

SP1900 The SP1900 EMU / SP1950 EMU or IKK Train (formerly KCR EMU SP1900 / SP1950 EMU; , also known as the Millennium Train during the public promotion) is a model of train that runs on Hong Kong's Tuen Ma line. It was the second model of electric mul ...

passenger train (D305/306) broke down when one of the

transformer A transformer is a passive component that transfers electrical energy from one electrical circuit to another circuit, or multiple circuits. A varying current in any coil of the transformer produces a varying magnetic flux in the transformer' ...

s (numbered P306) mounted on the train roof exploded. It is suspected that the overheated transformer caused its insulating oil to vaporise, thus causing the explosion. In addition, the circuit breaker of the transformer apparently failed to cut the power supply to the transformer. The scene was in the tunnel's southbound track, about 2 km from

Tsuen Wan West station Tsuen Wan West is an underground MTR station in Tsuen Wan, New Territories, Hong Kong. It is located between and stations on the . There is an emergency platform on the southern side of the station. There is a large bus and minibus interch ...

. Around 650 passengers had to evacuate through the dark tunnel to the station, and around 340 people returned to the ground through a ventilation shaft at

Chai Wan Kok Chai Wan Kok () is an area in Tsuen Wan, Hong Kong. It is located at the west end of Tsuen Wan Town. While its southeast is industrial area, its hilly northeast and coastal southwest are residential. It is on the main access between Tuen Mun ...

. 11 passengers were sent to the hospital. Train services returned to normal after four hours. As a gesture of apology, Mr

Michael Tien Michael Tien Puk-sun (born 25 August 1950) is a Hong Kong politician, businessman and member of the Legislative Council for New Territories North West. He is the founder and chairman of the G2000 clothing retail chain and former chairman of ...

, the KCRC chairman, announced that the West Rail would be opened for free rides on 9am to 1pm at February 21, 2007, the first working day after the Chinese New Year holiday.

References

Railway tunnels in Hong Kong Tunnels completed in 2003 2003 establishments in Hong Kong {{kCR-stub