Hong Kong East - Released

The third shows the contrast between the old and the new railway stations at Tai Po. The old platform and station building (now part of the railway museum) on the right and the light blue platform canopy of the new station to the left.

Donationware payment made in thanks

Dedication
In memory of Max Anderson, who annoyed us a lot but made us think, and who I promised this sim would be free.

I have noted that there are 5 different eras.
Looking forward to the 4 yet to come!

headshot119 in post 118585 said:

Dedication
In memory of Max Anderson, who annoyed us a lot but made us think, and who I promised this sim would be free.

Thanks for including this - I have to admit it brought a slight tear to my eye, to remember that he's no longer with us.

Absolutely fantastic! I will be making a donation shortly! Well done, Clive (and Karl? Or are you just the bearer of good news here? :)), and thanks a bunch for making this one free!

Rest in peace, maxand.

This is really amazing! I left my Simsig for a while and when I randomly thought of checking it out again here it is!

I use this line (officially called East Rail Line, or EAL by internal designation) to and from work everyday, at what used to be KCRC's Headquarters (now one of MTR's office buildings).

I will be sure to try it out and help improve it.

- Mong Kok station has been renamed Mong Kok East since the MTR-KCR merger in 2007. This is because the ex-MTR network also has a station named Mong Kok, that is about 500m to the southwest.

- I did some research on the Operations Manual and did not find any reference to Beacon Hill Tunnel restricted to 5 trains. Either it is an obsolete arrangement, or I am missing something.

- The 132s spacing you mentioned is applied throughout the line: this is per traction current rating

- Only one train is allowed between the main signals in either portals of Chau Tau Tunnel - this is a tunnel ventilation restriction

- not all Intercity trains make technical stops at Lo Wu. Trains operated by Chinese Railways make the stop to allow MTR Pilot Man to board the train, per Safety Rules requirements; some of the trains (known as Ktt) are operated by MTR driver, who can operate the entire route from Hong Kong to Guanzhou on his/her own, there Ktt trains do not stop and simply passes Lo Wu

- In the post 2009 layout, cross line movements to and from Platform 3 at Hung Hom require authorisation from Traffic Controller, cut-off point is Signal 1107.
East Rail Line (EAL) to West Rail Line (WRL) movements is done by: (1) EAL controller request control of signal P3SB from WRL controller before train arrives at Hung Hom; (2) EAL train enters Platform 3 and stop short of P3SB; (3) train driver obtain authorisation from WRL controller; (4) proceed when authorisation is granted
WRL to EAL movement is done by: (1) WRL train hold at the northern stop board (which is short of 1107); (2) WRL train obtain authorisation from EAL traffic controller; (3) proceed when authorisation is granted
In real life thought, this movement would only be used either by a loco hauled EMU (SP1900 EMU undergoing overhaul at the WRL depot, or in more recent years, trial run of the MLR EMU for dismantling at the same depot) or trains running on Restricted Manual Mode. This is because the signalling systems in EAL and WRL are incompatible.

Edmund1635 in post 119119 said:

- not all Intercity trains make technical stops at Lo Wu. Trains operated by Chinese Railways make the stop to allow MTR Pilot Man to board the train, per Safety Rules requirements; some of the trains (known as Ktt) are operated by MTR driver, who can operate the entire route from Hong Kong to Guanzhou on his/her own, there Ktt trains do not stop and simply passes Lo Wu

I thought I'd got that right in the timetable (I can't check right now).

I will be sure to try it out and help improve it.

- Mong Kok station has been renamed Mong Kok East since the MTR-KCR merger in 2007. This is because the ex-MTR network also has a station named Mong Kok, that is about 500m to the southwest.

- I did some research on the Operations Manual and did not find any reference to Beacon Hill Tunnel restricted to 5 trains. Either it is an obsolete arrangement, or I am missing something.

- The 132s spacing you mentioned is applied throughout the line: this is per traction current rating

- Only one train is allowed between the main signals in either portals of Chau Tau Tunnel - this is a tunnel ventilation restriction

- not all Intercity trains make technical stops at Lo Wu. Trains operated by Chinese Railways make the stop to allow MTR Pilot Man to board the train, per Safety Rules requirements; some of the trains (known as Ktt) are operated by MTR driver, who can operate the entire route from Hong Kong to Guanzhou on his/her own, there Ktt trains do not stop and simply passes Lo Wu

- In the post 2009 layout, cross line movements to and from Platform 3 at Hung Hom require authorisation from Traffic Controller, cut-off point is Signal 1107.
East Rail Line (EAL) to West Rail Line (WRL) movements is done by: (1) EAL controller request control of signal P3SB from WRL controller before train arrives at Hung Hom; (2) EAL train enters Platform 3 and stop short of P3SB; (3) train driver obtain authorisation from WRL controller; (4) proceed when authorisation is granted
WRL to EAL movement is done by: (1) WRL train hold at the northern stop board (which is short of 1107); (2) WRL train obtain authorisation from EAL traffic controller; (3) proceed when authorisation is granted
In real life thought, this movement would only be used either by a loco hauled EMU (SP1900 EMU undergoing overhaul at the WRL depot, or in more recent years, trial run of the MLR EMU for dismantling at the same depot) or trains running on Restricted Manual Mode. This is because the signalling systems in EAL and WRL are incompatible.

clive in post 119244 said:

Edmund1635 in post 119119 said:

- The 132s spacing you mentioned is applied throughout the line: this is per traction current rating

Exactly how is it applied? It can't simply be trains passing a given signal or there'd be no need for headway boards.

I wasn't clear about that statement - the exact statement per manual is "minimum headway 2.2-2.4 minutes".

Again, at present this is limited by fleet capacity - the current timetable sees a minimum headway of 2.5 minutes with 33 our of 34 trains put into services.

<snip>
If the "minimum headway 2.2-2.4 minutes" was a hard operating limit (as opposed to merely a planning limit), I don't think it would be wise to timetable larger numbers of successive trains right up to the limit anyway, because in that case each small delay of even a few seconds would immediately be transmitted to all trains behind it without any scope for recovery.

Scenarios:

Severe delays: As for minor delays but more so. Various other problems maybe encountered including a train which may develop a defect in-service and you will need to decide how to deal with it. Note, that the defect is noted against the Vnnn number so a replacement train running to the same number will continue to report the defect unless the original train is returned to Northumberland Park depot first. If you decide to return the stock to Northumberland Park depot it must be running to a timetable that has the same first four characters as it was running within the Sim.
As the Sim has bespoke train delays written into it I recommend that the f3 train delay settings are maintained at zero.