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The Transport Advisory Committee (TAC) discussed today (January 20) the latest surveying technologies used in major road works and the design of the MTR Corporation Limited (MTRCL)'s next-generation railway stations.
TAC Members were briefed on the applications of the latest surveying technologies in road construction and maintenance works, including the global positioning system, automatic monitoring survey system and three-dimensional laser scanning.
TAC Chairman, Mr Rimsky Yuen, said that members were pleased to note that these new technologies had brought about improvements in surveying accuracy, operational efficiency and personnel safety, which were difficult to achieve with conventional surveying methods.
TAC Members were also briefed on the design of MTRCL's next-generation railway stations.
Members noted that Hong Kong's railway network was entering a new era, as a number of railway projects such as the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link (Hong Kong Section), the West Island Line, the South Island Line (East), the Kwun Tong Line Extension and the Shatin to Central Link were being implemented. To meet the needs and changes of society, including changes in the age structure of the population in Hong Kong, increase in the number of long distance rail passengers, needs of the disabled and passenger aspirations, the MTRCL will introduce new design concepts to its future railway stations and station facilities.
"Members welcomed the fact that the design of future MTR stations would place greater emphasis on user-friendliness and the needs of different groups of passengers. Based on these new design concepts, the MTRCL will roll out a series of newly designed facilities in its new railway projects, such as user-friendly ticket machines, public toilets, barrier free-access and new passenger information displays in the concourses and platforms to provide useful information to passengers such as the time, weather and waiting time for the next train and service disruption information," said Mr Yuen.
TAC Members were also briefed on the existing and planned barrier-free facilities on franchised buses for elderly passengers.
"Members were pleased to note that all franchised bus operators were committed to making continuous improvement in bus design to enable passengers to travel comfortably and safely. When acquiring new buses and setting specifications for the acquisition of buses, franchised bus operators will adopt bus designs with barrier-free and elderly-friendly features as far as practicable," said Mr Yuen.
TAC Members also noted that the Government would work with the franchised bus operators to expedite the implementation of the planned improvements and actions and keep track of the best practices of bus safety, such as barrier-free designs and the adoption of new elderly-friendly bus design.
Ends/Friday, January 20, 2012
Issued at HKT 15:25
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