Tai Lam Tunnel

Not to be confused with Tai Lam Tunnel on the West Rail Line.

Tai Lam Tunnel
Part of Route 3 (Country Park Section)
Route information
Length: 3.8 km (2.4 mi)
History: Built 1998
Major junctions
South end: Ting Kau
North end: Kam Tin (near Ma On Kong)
Highway system
Hong Kong Strategic Route and Exit Number System

Tai Lam Tunnel (Chinese: 大欖隧道), running along Tsing Long Highway, is part of Route 3 Country Park Section (R3CPS) and is a transport link between the western New Territories in Ting Kau and Yuen Long.

Tai Lam Tunnel was constructed to ease traffic congestion at Tuen Mun Road, Tate's Cairn Tunnel and Castle Peak Road, and to link traffic directly from New Territories West to urban areas of Kowloon West and Hong Kong Island, the Hong Kong International Airport and the Kwai Tsing Container Terminals. Located adjacent to the boundary crossings of Lok Ma Chau and Shenzhen Bay, it connects smoothly with Shenzhen and Guangzhou for serving both cross-boundary passenger services and cargo logistics.

Toll area

Tai Lam Tunnel is a 3.8 km (2.4 mi) dual 3-lane tunnel. The total length of the R3CPS (the tolled area) is 10.1 km (6.3 mi).

The tolled area, with two entrances/exits at the south end, Ting Kau Bridge and Tuen Mun Road at Ting Kau, crosses Tai Lam Country Park to its north end at Pat Heung.

Located at Pat Heung and about 1 km (0.62 mi) from the north tunnel portal, the toll plaza consists of 22 tollbooths, 16 of which are for manual tolls and 6 are Autotoll lanes.

Construction and operation

Tai Lam Tunnel is a Build-Operate-Transfer (B.O.T) project with a franchise period of 30 years (including construction period). (Cap 474 s2 on "franchise period") Its total construction cost was HK$7.25 billion. Construction on Tai Lam Tunnel started on 13 March 1995 and was officially opened to traffic on 25 May 1998[1] to match with the opening of the new Hong Kong International Airport.

The designed traffic capacity of Tai Lam Tunnel is 140,000 vehicles per day. In 2011/2012, the average daily traffic was over 54,000 vehicles.[2]

According to the statistics from the Transport Department of the Government of Hong Kong, Tai Lam Tunnel has higher-than-average safety records. In 2011, the accident rate per million vehicle-km was just 0.07.[3]

Tunnel tolls

The tunnel is well known for its high tolls similar as the Western Harbour Tunnel. Its toll for private cars is HK$40, making it the second most expensive tunnel in Hong Kong; the most expensive is the Western Harbour Tunnel at HK$55. For coaches, it is the highest in the city, about 4 times higher than the longer Tate's Cairn Tunnel.

Category Vehicle Standard toll (HK$) Concessionary toll (current)[4][5]
1 Motorcycle 60 20
2 Private car 65 36
Taxi
3 Private light bus 180 100
4 Light goods vehicle (less than 5.5 tonnes) 180 38
5 Medium goods vehicle (5.5 to 24 tonnes) 190 43
6 Heavy goods vehicle (more than 24 tonnes) 210 48
7 Single-decker bus 180 115
8 Double-decker bus 195 135
Additional axle 70 Free

Environmental protection and sustainable measures

To protect the landscape of Tai Lam Country Park, the Tunnel Company carried out many environmental protection initiatives, including the employment of a tunnel to passing through the country park area and the keen preservation of vegetation and wild animals. One of the tasks was compensatory tree planting at a rate of three replacement saplings for each tree felled. In total, 250,000 trees, 150,000 shrubs and 60,000 climbing plants were planted during the construction period.

As to conservation of wildlife, there is a small tunnel constructed at the south portal of Tai Lam Tunnel, mainly for small wild animals in this area to commute in the valley freely, allowing them to maintain their habituation.

To keep in pace with technology development, Tai Lam Tunnel has gradually replaced traditional light bulbs with light-emitting diodes (LEDs). The indicator lighting signals inside the tunnel tubes and at the toll plaza as well as the illuminating system in the administration building have thus been replaced for reducing carbon emission.

Bus Routes travelling through Tai Lam Tunnel

Route Details Notes
68E Yuen Long Park Tsing Yi Railway Station
68M Yuen Long (West) Tsuen Wan Railway Station
68X Hung Shui Kiu (Hung Fuk Estate) Mong Kok (Park Avenue)
69C Tin Yan Estate Kwun Tong Ferry Weekdays peak hours only
69M Tin Shui Wai Town Centre Kwai Fong Railway Station
69X Tin Shui Jordan (To Wah Road)
69P Tin Yiu Kwai Fong Railway Station Weekdays morning peak hours only
251M Sheung Tsuen Tsuen Wan Railway Station Weekdays morning peak hours only
265B Tin Heng Estate Mong Kok (Park Avenue)
265M Tin Heng Estate Lai Yiu
268B Long Ping Railway Station Hung Hom Ferry Concourse
268C Long Ping Railway Station Kwun Tong Ferry
268P Yuen Long (Shan Shui House) Kwun Tong Ferry Weekdays morning peak hours only
268X Hung Shui Kiu (Hung Fuk Estate) Jordan (To Wah Road)
269A Tin Sau Road Kwai Fong Estate Weekdays morning peak hours only
269B Tin Shui Wai Town Centre Hung Hom Ferry Concourse
269C Tin Shui Wai Town Centre Kwun Tong Ferry
269D Tin Fu Lek Yuen
269M Tin Yan Estate Cho Yiu
269P Kwai Fong Estate Tin Heng Estate Weekdays evening peak hours only
279X Luen Wo Hui Tsing Yi Railway Station
N269 Tin Tsz Mei Foo Night service
N368 Yuen Long (West) Central (Macau Ferry) Night service
967 Tin Yan Admiralty (West)
967X Tin Yan Causeway Bay (Moreton Terrace) Weekdays peak hours only
968 Yuen Long (West) Causeway Bay (Tin Hau)
968X Yuen Long (West) Quarry Bay (King's Road) Weekdays peak hours only
969 Tin Shui Wai Town Centre Causeway Bay (Moreton Terrace)
969A Tin Shui Wai Town Centre Admiralty/Wan Chai Weekdays peak hours only
969C Quarry Bay Tin Chung Court Weekdays evening peak hours only
969P Tin Shui Wai Town Centre Causeway Bay (Moreton Terrace) Weekdays morning peak hours only
978 Wah Ming Wan Chai North
978A Luen Wo Hui Wan Chai North Weekdays morning peak hours only
978B Chi Fuk Circuit Fanling Wan Chai North Weekdays morning peak hours only
N969 Tin Shui Wai Town Centre Causeway Bay (Moreton Terrace) Night service
A36 Hung Shui Kiu (Hung Yuen Road) Airport (Ground Transportation Centre) Peak Hours only
E34A Tin Shui Wai Town Centre Airport (Ground Transportation Centre)
E34B Yuen Long (Ma Wang Road) Airport (Ground Transportation Centre)
E34P Tung Chung (Yat Tung Estate) Tin Shui Wai Town Centre Weekdays peak hours only
E34X Tin Shui Wai Town Centre Tung Chung (Yat Tung Estate) Weekdays morning peak hours only
NA34 Airport (Ground Transportation Centre) Tin Shui Wai Town Centre Night service

See also

References

  1. "Monthly Traffic and Transport Digest July 2012 - Tunnel, Lantau Link and Vehicular Ferry Services Statistics: Tai Lam Tunnel" (PDF). Transport Department of the Government of Hong Kong. July 2012. Retrieved 24 September 2012.
  2. "Route 3 Country Park Section Toll Adjustment" (PDF). Route 3 (CPS) Company Limited. 24 December 2012. Retrieved 25 February 2015.
  3. "Road traffic accidents in tunnels by tunnel and severity 2011" (PDF). Transport Department of the Government of Hong Kong. Retrieved 24 September 2012.
  4. "Route 3 (CPS) Company Limited - Tolls and Other Fees". Route 3 (CPS) Company Limited. Retrieved 24 September 2012.
  5. "Transport Department - Tunnels and Bridges". Transport Department of the Government of Hong Kong. Retrieved 3 November 2012.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Tai Lam Tunnel.
Preceded by
Ting Kau Bridge
Hong Kong Route 3

Tai Lam Tunnel
Succeeded by
Tsing Long Highway

Coordinates: 22°23′42″N 114°03′39″E / 22.394999°N 114.060831°E / 22.394999; 114.060831

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