With more than 40 years of experience, Hong Kong-based rail operator MTR has accumulated valuable experience from managing generations of assets.
Vertical integration and precinct integration are key enablers of seamless and convenient metro services that drive the sustainable growth of cities. Yet integration is often overlooked as an ingredient to a successful metro.
Being recently ranked as the city with the best public transport (Ranking Royals), Hong Kong runs a metro system operated by MTR Corporation that delivers world-class service to more than one billion passengers annually.
And MTR is today regarded as one of the world’s leading railway operators for safety, reliability, customer service and cost efficiency, operating rail networks in nine cities across Asia, Australia and Europe.
The Australian subsidiary, MTR Australia, is currently delivering the Trains, Signalling, Maintenance and Operations package for Sydney Metro City and Southwest. It is also the major shareholder of the operating companies for the Melbourne Metro rail network and Sydney Metro Northwest.
SYSTEM INTEGRATION AND PROCUREMENT
MTR category manager Cynthia Ma said as an example of MTR’s longevity and success, MTR managed more than 16 types of rolling stock in its Hong Kong network which have been built by 12 different manufacturers, including ABB, Alstom, Bombardier, CAF, CRRC and subsidiaries, Itochu Kawasaki Kinki-Sharyo, Metro Cammell, ROTEM, and Stadler.
“MTR has continuously improved the reliability performance that it maintains, irrespective of whether the trains were specified and procured by MTR or by the client,” she said. “This make sures that MTR is always able to procure from the emerging suppliers ahead of the market.”
MTR integration manager Aritra Chakravarty said that this approach was not without its challenges.
“Compatibility and standardisation across the train types and interfaces with signalling and communication contracts, Human Machine Interface (HMI) of train control panels, human factors, and operating procedures, were the issues to overcome, even when they are from the same supplier,” he said.
“MTR’s project management, engineering, and system integration teams, along with our consultants, consistently verify that operational and interface requirements are integrated into the design and are compatible across trains and its interfacing systems, even when they are from the same supplier.
“This thorough oversight extends beyond design phase and encompasses production, testing, and commissioning to ensure a safe, reliable and integrated rail system fit for operations.”
SUPPLY CHAIN ENGAGEMENT
“Having managed the entire lifecycle of different systems, we have learnt that taking a technology agnostic approach for procurement allows us to tailor the system to delivering a cost-effective service for our clients and passengers; aligning with a specific technology provider prior to determining the service requirements is a suboptimal solution,” Ma said.
“The key advantages of this approach are inviting competition, mitigating the delivery risk, and obtaining the best technologies from between them.
“Instead of adopting a discrete, project- by-project engagement, MTR recognises the importance of regular engagement with the supply chain and recently developed a Category Strategy Plan that identifies key railway systems and includes regular reviews of the available technology and products in the market against MTR’s project pipeline across the globe.
“The plan also identifies opportunity for joint procurement across different projects and business hubs where there is synergy.”
EMBRACING TECHNOLOGICAL EVOLUTION
MTR typically adopts a “fast follower” approach to new technology in railways to ensure that innovations are implemented safely and predictably.
MTR’s agility shines through in its deployment of technology to address emerging needs.
For instance, as the industry transitions towards Fully Automatic Operation technologies, MTR proactively introduced an advanced real-time track image recording system to pre-empt potential issues arising from traditional broken rail detection methods.
MTR also recognises the increasingly market-leading role that Chinese suppliers are playing for the design and delivery of Communications-based Train Control (CBTC) and Vehicle-to-Vehicle Communication Based Train Control (VBTC) Systems.
“There are around 7500km of metro with CBTC coverage in Mainland China, which is by far the biggest market in the world,” Ma said.
In recognition of its innovative management model and technique, and the proven success of MTR in delivering the Beijing Rail Transit Expansion, Beijing MTR received the nationwide achievement of “First Grand Award” for the “Realization of Sustainable Development through Life Cycle Management of Operational Asset” from the China Association of Communication Enterprise Management.
MTR was the first railway company in the world to be certificated to PAS55 (2005) and then ISO55000 (2015).
MTR delivers levels of train punctuality exceeding the customer’s requirements in every city that it operates, namely Hong Kong, London, Melbourne, Stockholm, Beijing, Shenzhen, and Hangzhou.
FUELLING SUSTAINABILITY
With a mission to drastically reduce traffic congestion in the city, the MTR network in Hong Kong was designed to maximise its convenience for passengers.
“As population in Australia continues to grow and property prices continue to increase, successful integration of railway with precinct and adjacent developments will unlock substantial social, environment and economic benefits to local communities,” Ma said.
“For MTR projects, patronage forecasts and station catchment studies are done in early stages of projects to determine the optimum corridor alignment, location stations and entrances.
“This results in an effective and optimised operational solution where external factors such as geography and environment are taken into consideration, as well as public facilities including hospitals, population, and design parameters.
“Once the project alignment is designed, the station is designed to seamlessly integrate with its community through carefully planned station accesses and pedestrian circulation.
“Through arranging and optimising station space, the station can improve pedestrian circulation in the precinct and unlock commercial values in the station that regenerates the substantial costs of operating and maintaining a high-quality metro service.”
Apart from station precincts, MTR adopts a “Rail + Property” model to integrate railway with adjacent development.
The economic value of adjacent development is unlocked through the convenience of railway and in return, the patronage of metro service is also increased.
This presents several complexities as the railway is brought adjacent to development:
• Engineering challenges (structurally, geotechnically and fire engineering)
• Balance of land use (railway facilities against residential, commercial and government facility)
• Impacts to metro operations, especially during construction phase
• Interactions of different and sometimes conflicting statutory requirements
• Ownership, management and maintenance responsibilities and adjacent assets
• Risk ownership, allocation and project management
MTR achieves highly complicated integration between the facilities with a multi-disciplinary team, enabling a seamless vertical and horizontal integration, and maximises the synergy from “Rail + Property”.
GSR MONITOR GSR E290PX TRUCK MOUNTED BOOM LIFT – PRICE DOES NOT INCLUDE THE TRUCK
$289,900
Seven Hills, NSW
2020 PLATFORM BASKET MONITOR – 3315 LBD – 33M HYBRID SPIDER LIFT
$339,900
Seven Hills, NSW
2021 OMME MONITOR OMME 2300 EXP – 23M TRAILER MOUNTED LIFT
$207,790
Seven Hills, NSW
PLATFORM BASKET MONITOR 1575 PRO – 15M SPIDER LIFT
POA
Seven Hills, NSW
2021 TADANO AT200 S Super Deck
POA
Lytton, QLD
PLATFORM BASKET MONITOR 1380 – 13M SPIDER LIFT
POA
Seven Hills, NSW
2021 TADANO AT 300CG
POA
Lytton, QLD
.jpg "MTR: integrated success for metros - Rail Express 29")
OTHER 26 LELAND STREET
POA
East Wagga Wagga, NSW
2022 PLATFORM BASKET MONITOR 1890 ED PRO – 18M SPIDER LIFT
POA
Seven Hills, NSW
NIFTYLIFT LIGHTWEIGHT AUTO LEVELLING 45FT CHERRY PICKER
POA
Dandenong South, VIC
2021 TADANO AT 157CG
POA
Lytton, QLD
2021 PLATFORM BASKET MONITOR 1575 EP – 15M SPIDER LIFT
$109,890
Seven Hills, NSW
GSR MONITOR GSR E290PX TRUCK MOUNTED BOOM LIFT – PRICE DOES NOT INCLUDE THE TRUCK
$289,900
Seven Hills, NSW
2020 PLATFORM BASKET MONITOR – 3315 LBD – 33M HYBRID SPIDER LIFT
$339,900
Seven Hills, NSW
2021 OMME MONITOR OMME 2300 EXP – 23M TRAILER MOUNTED LIFT
$207,790
Seven Hills, NSW
PLATFORM BASKET MONITOR 1575 PRO – 15M SPIDER LIFT
POA
Seven Hills, NSW
2021 TADANO AT200 S Super Deck
POA
Lytton, QLD
PLATFORM BASKET MONITOR 1380 – 13M SPIDER LIFT
POA
Seven Hills, NSW
2021 TADANO AT 300CG
POA
Lytton, QLD
OTHER 26 LELAND STREET
POA
East Wagga Wagga, NSW
2022 PLATFORM BASKET MONITOR 1890 ED PRO – 18M SPIDER LIFT
POA
Seven Hills, NSW
NIFTYLIFT LIGHTWEIGHT AUTO LEVELLING 45FT CHERRY PICKER
POA
Dandenong South, VIC
2021 TADANO AT 157CG
POA
Lytton, QLD
2021 PLATFORM BASKET MONITOR 1575 EP – 15M SPIDER LIFT
$109,890
Seven Hills, NSW
Recent Comments