Macau Light Rapid Transit Corporation Limited (MLM) underlined in a statement yesterday that it is “intensively” preparing for the forthcoming opening of the Light Rapid Transit (LRT) Hengqin Line, which will connect the Cotai entertainment precinct and the Macau-side zone of the Hengqin joint checkpoint.
The statement said that the Hengqin Line, which is scheduled to come into service before the end of this year, will provide residents and visitors with a comfortable and quick option to travel to the Hengqin checkpoint, facilitating people-to-people and economic exchanges and giving new impetus to Macau’s integration into the development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area (GBA).
The 2.2-kilometre-long LRT Cotai-Hengqin section includes a 900-metre-long underwater tunnel.
The LRT Cotai-Hengqin section project got off the ground in March 2021. Its construction, which had a price tag of 3.46 billion patacas, was fully completed on the last day of September, when the Public Works Bureau (DSOP), the public entity tasked with organising and overseeing public construction projects, transferred the line to Macau Light Rapid Transit Corporation Limited (MLM), the government-owned LRT operator, which then started the section’s internal trial operations.
The Hengqin checkpoint is a Macau-mainland joint checkpoint, where the Macau Special Administrative Region (MSAR) exercises jurisdiction over a part of the checkpoint on Zhuhai’s Hengqin island, i.e., the Macau-side checkpoint zone of the Hengqin joint checkpoint.
The MSAR also exercises jurisdiction over the Macau-side checkpoint zone’s adjoining areas such as the Lotus Flower Bridge across the Cotai-Hengqin waterway as well as the new LRT Cotai-Hengqin section.
The Cotai-side station of the two-station LRT Hengqin Line is connected to the adjacent Lotus Station on the current Taipa Line through an indoor corridor, enabling passengers to transfer between the Taipa Line and the Hengqin Line.
The Hengqin Line gradually descends from the elevated segment in Cotai and crosses the Cotai-Hengqin waterway via an underwater tunnel before arriving at the underground station at the Macau-side checkpoint zone of the Hengqin joint checkpoint, right next to the pedestrian immigration building.
The Hengqin-side station of the line is officially known as Hengqin Station.
With the Hengqin Line to open soon, yesterday’s MLM statement said that after leaving the underground Hengqin Station via lifts or escalators, LRT passengers can then “easily” walk to the checkpoint building’s departure hall.
The Taipa Line, which also serves Cotai, has been extended to the peninsula’s Barra Station at its south-western tip since December last year. With its extension to Barra, the Taipa Line is now 12.5 kilometres long.
The 1.6-kilometre-long Seac Pai Van Line opened on November 1, connecting the Macao Union Hospital in south Cotai and Coloane’s sprawling Seac Pai Van public housing neighbourhood. The line consists of two stations – one next to the public-private Macao Union Hospital complex and the other one near the Seac Pai Van public housing community, officially known as Union Hospital Station and Seac Pai Van Station respectively.
Union Hospital Station also serves as a cross-platform interchange, enabling LRT passengers to transfer between the Taipa Line and the Seac Pai Van Line.
After the Seac Pai Van Line’s opening about three weeks ago, the light rail system now has a total of 14 stations, with a total length of 14.1 kilometres.
After the forthcoming opening of the Hengqin Line, its Cotai-side station will be part of the Taipa Line’s Lotus Station as they are connected through an indoor corridor, meaning that the Lotus Station will also be a station of the Hengqin Line, serving as a cross-platform interchange between the two lines.
Consequently, the Hengqin Line’s upcoming operational start will raise the total number of Macau’s LRT stations by one to 15 from the current 14.
This handout photo released by Macau Light Rapid Transit Corporation Limited (MLM) yesterday shows the Hengqin joint checkpoint’s pedestrian immigration building at the Macau side, with the yellow square indicating the entrance and exit of the new LRT Hengqin Station.
This image released by MLM yesterday shows the new version of the LRT network map including the red Hengqin Line.
The handout photo released by the Public Works Bureau (DSOP) in late September shows the LRT Hengqin station.
