Promulgation of Hong Kong Railway Standards and establishment of Railway Checking Unit by Highways Department to optimise implementation of railway projects through multipronged approach (with photos)
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In his address, Mr Yau remarked that, "The HyD is always committed to staying abreast of the times, optimising the implementation of railway projects and striving to construct railways in an efficient and robust manner. Capitalising on the opportunities brought by two cross-boundary railway projects, namely the Northern Link and the Hong Kong-Shenzhen Western Rail Link, we formulated the Hong Kong Railway Standards in collaboration with relevant government departments and railway experts. In addition to retaining the prevailing railway standards in Hong Kong, the Hong Kong Railway Standards have introduced suitable railway standards of the Nation and various places in the world (including European Norm (EN), Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)'s standards, International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC)'s standards and International Organization for Standardization (ISO)'s standards) with adaptation to local circumstances, as a result of detailed analyses and comparisons on the premise of ensuring railway safety, quality, and performance‑based outcomes."
He continued, "The new Hong Kong Railway Standards could facilitate the use of a broader selection of advanced construction technologies, construction materials, equipment, and railway systems for railway projects, provide clear technical specifications as the approval basis of the supervisory authorities, and also facilitate the development and optimisation of work processes by the industry. This move helps to leverage and introduce the extensive experience and world-leading technologies in railway construction of our nation, as well as the recognised standards in other parts of the world, with a view to driving the new railway projects of Hong Kong with enhanced speed and efficiency, and striving for shorter construction times and lower costs."
Under the Hong Kong Railway Standards, the industry could flexibly apply suitable standards to different railway projects on account of their individual needs and characteristics, after holistic consideration of factors such as cost-effectiveness, technical requirements, supply chain conditions, site environment and labour and machinery resources. The Standards encourage the use of innovative construction machinery, technologies and materials (such as use of larger or more extensive use of standardised prefabrication technology, high-strength structural steel and ultra-high-performance concrete), as well as advanced equipment and construction specifications (such as the model selection, design, construction, and control of tunnel boring machines).
The benefits of Hong Kong Railway Standards can be summarised into four key highlights, namely:
(1) Keeping abreast of the times and embracing technology: promoting more unification and standardisation in different aspects of railway design, which would be conducive to introducing the latest construction technologies and advanced operating systems;
(2) Clear basis for expedited approval: providing a clear basis through introduction of more technical specifications for station design, construction equipment, rolling stock, construction methods, etc to help simplify and expedite approval processes;
(3) Diversified options and leveraging strengths: broadening options for construction materials, construction equipment and railway systems, which could enable better use of regional and local supply chains; and
(4) Optimising procedures for enhancing benefits: facilitate the industry in optimising construction procedures and enhance cost-effectiveness through provision of guidelines on construction procedures and recommendations on best practices.
The electronic copy of the Hong Kong Railway Standards has been uploaded to the HyD's website for public access
(www.hyd.gov.hk/en/technical_references/technical_document/railway_standards/index.html).
To effectively implement the Hong Kong Railways Standards, the HyD redeployed internal resources to set up the RCU, with professionals including building surveyors, structural engineers and civil engineers as members. The RCU is dedicated to handling the approval for the building plans of new railway projects, and an electronic centralised approval platform is also established to facilitate the convenient submission of documents and approvals of building plans, thereby enhancing administrative efficiency. The RCU will be responsible for the approvals relating to various new railway projects, including the Northern Link, the Hong Kong-Shenzhen Western Rail Link (Hung Shui Kiu-Qianhai) and new Smart and Green Mass Transit System projects.
The performance target of the RCU is to substantially reduce the processing time frame for first plan submissions from 60 days to 30 days, and that for amendment plan submissions from 30 days to 21 days, with key performance indicators for completing no less than 90 per cent of the approval decisions of the plan submissions within the aforementioned time frame. Meanwhile, the RCU also includes a monitoring and intervention mechanism. If the RCU encounters a major issue that could not be resolved within 15 days, the matter would be escalated to an officer at the Assistant Director level for handling, so that senior officers could intervene in a timely manner and explore viable solutions.
Ends/Monday, February 23, 2026
Issued at HKT 18:25
Issued at HKT 18:25
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