Line 2 (Kwong Pak Kwun Line)

Line 2 (Kwong Pak Kwun Line) 二號 (光北觀) 綫
A K-Train arrived at Sai Mo Island
Overview
Abbreviation	L2 (KNL)
Status	Operational (Kwong Chow - Tsim Pei Tsui) (Kwong Chow - Ostania) Under construction (West Lake1), Dragon Loop Centre, Hung Shan, Lung Tau, Tsim Pei Tsui2), Yuren Matou (Avondale))
Owner	WLT (Kwong Chow - Spawn) (Spawn - Puda Xi (W. Laputa)) (Makki Memorial Village - Tsim Pei Tsui) Auckland Transport (Spawn - Coast City) Qingli Railways (Coast City - Makki Memorial Village, except Dragon Loop Centre) (Westalis - Ostania) Lilypad Rail (Dragon Loop Centre) CyanEX Rapid Transit (Puda Xi (W. Laputa) - Westalis)
Locale	West Lake Spawn Auckland Kallos Tsim Pei Tsui Peninsula
Termini	Kwong Chow Ostania Tsim Pei Tsui
Connecting Lines	Line 1 (Meyan Line)
	Line 3 (Cyan Gray Line)
	Line 4 (Elizabeth Line)
	Hana-Koshi Line
	Spawn Grand Circular
	Airport Express(WIP)
	Scottetsu Line
	Furret Line
	BCT Red Line
	High Speed Rail
	Sightseeing Local Line
	Sightseeing Line
	Metro South Continental Line
	Metro Pengaloo Line
	AT Metro
	Tramlink
	AT Regional
	Lilac Light Rail
	Chin Ka Village Fast, Frequent and Free Light Rail
	Azalea Cyan Line
	Kallos Ferry
	BCT Silver Line
	BCT Blue Line
	Hillside Line
	BCT Orange Line
	BCT Azur Line
	Oculink Yellow Line
	Resort Ferries
	Fairview Line
	Fairview Express
	Oculink Blue Line
	Oculink Red Line
	Kallos Express
	Wilds Railway Aldgate & Resort Line
	Metro Blossom East Line
	Bond Line
	Effirt Express
Stations3)	15 (5 work in progress)
Service
Operator(s)	WLT
Service Hours	04:28 - next day 03:16 (UTC+8)
Frequency	Every 1 - 8 mins
Depot	Chik Shek Wan Depot
Rolling Stock	M-Train (small variant) K-Train (small variant) C-Train (small variant) CyanEX CXD104
History
Opened	First open: 20 August, 2022 (Coast City - Makki Memorial Village) 7 September, 2022 (Spawn - Coast City) 24 June, 2023 (Special shuttle: Kwong Chow, Sai Mo Island) 13 April, 2024 (Sha Tsui station) 29 August, 2024 (Spawn - Puda Xi (W. Laputa)) 10 August, 2025 (See Tsuen station) 1 January, 2026 (Makki Memorial Village - Tsim Pei Tsui) Merge: 5 May, 2024 (Spawn - Forest Peaks) 29 August, 2024 (Forest Peaks - Makki Memorial Village) (Puda Xi (W. Laputa) - Ostania))
Technical
Line Length	TBC
Number of Tracks	Double Track
Operating Speed	Average: TBC Maximum: 105 km/h (29.2 m/s)4)
Signalling System	Minecraft Transit Railway Signals 40035) (ETCS Level 3 / D-ATACS equivalent)
Route Map

Line 2 (Kwong Pak Kwun Line) (Chinese: 二號 (光北觀) 綫), full name Line 2 (Kwong Chow - North Coast / Sightseeing Phase 3, 4 Line) (Chinese: 二號 (光州 - 北海岸 / 觀光三、四期) 綫) is a rapid transit service operated by West Lake Transport Authority, Qingli Railways (QLR) and Cyanex Rapid Transit (Cyanex), combining WLT Line 2 which goes from Kwong Chow station to Spawn station, from Makki Memorial Village station to Tsim Pei Tsui station, and QLR North Coast Line which goes from Spawn station to Makki Memorial Village station, the line splits out at Spawn station and another branch head to Puda Xi (W. Laputa) station and joining Sightseeing Line Phase 3 (a.k.a. Cyan Twilight Line) tracks. Trains running this branch continues on Sightseeing Line Phase 3 and 4 and Bond Line to Ostania station.

The line colour is mandarin yellow inspired from real life Tung Chung Line and in accordance with the red colour of Kwong Chow station and the orchid magenta colour of Line 1 (Meyan Line)⁶⁾.

The line is first known as the branch of earliest WLT railway services plan, connecting up Spawn area with Kwong Chow, via the east shore area of West Lake. It is separated from Line 1 and forms Line 2.

It was originally planned to connect Spawn Grand Circular and Weiss LRT at Red Leaves station. However, it changed when Kettle rebuilt Spawn and Coast Railway to form part of the AT Metro network. Since the number of connections to Spawn station has increased, and Spawn-Cyan Height Metropolis started developing, WLT decided to accept Kettle's offer of building 2 more platforms at underground level⁷⁾ for Line 2 to terminate. The proposed route as well as location of Sai Mo Island station and See Tsuen station was adjusted accordingly, forming the now zigzag lining.

Before the line is fully ready, a special shuttle service already started between Sai Mo Island station and Kwong Chow station, with no intermediate stops, for promoting Kwong Chow to the visitors on Hana-Koshi Line open day 24 June, 2023. After the open day, the service is closed and continues construction, until when Line 1 is undergoing renovation, Line 2 along with the new bus route 4S connecting Sai Mo Island to Spawn-Cyan Height Metropolis⁸⁾ serves as the replacement for transport service to Kwong Chow.

Line 2 (Kwong Chow - North Coast Line) W. Section Temp Shuttle no longer has no intermediate stops after Sha Tsui station has finished its construction and opens to the public.

The idea of merging WLT Line 2 and QLR North Coast Line first came up when QLR offers to through-run North Coast Line trains to WLT Line 2. At that time, AT Metro 2209 service⁹⁾ was using only one platform for terminating and outbound trains, causing confusion to passengers and occasional waiting outside the station. There were no independent sections for trains to wait, hence North Coast Line services were also affected.

Feasibility of merging, i.e., the compatibility of two lines, is soon studied. Since WLT Line 2 and North Coast Line are using trains with the same length¹⁰⁾ and door spacing¹¹⁾, the merge is likely to be successful. The main difference to mitigate is only the turn radius as well as largest inclination requirement. Changes in track alignmemts and rolling stocks of existing North Coast Line are soon proposed and agreed.

Merging saves the platform for turning back North Coast Line trains, giving it to AT Metro 2209 service terminating trains. Then, the congestion will be largely relieved. The project is initiated as the early work of WLT Line 2, including the crossings and a pair of 700m tracks west of Spawn station, and was done on 3 May 2023. The progress of the sections between Spawn station and Forest Peaks station, Ōrākei West station and Toitoi station are also going well.

After confirmed to merge, WLT Line 2 drops the company name WLT in its naming and adopt a Shenzhen Metro legacy style naming Line 2 (Kwong Chow - North Coast Line), with reference to the new MRT Line Thomson-East Coast Line in Singapore. It is expected the other two rapid transit lines built and operated by WLT, Line 1 and Line 3, will follow a similar naming style.

The merge is later split into two stages because of the amount of work needed to revamp some sections. The first stage is done on 5 May 2024 which WLT Line 2 (Kwong Chow Line) trains run from Kwong Chow via Sai Mo Island and Spawn to Forest Peaks while QLR North Coast Line trains turn back at Coast City. Yet West Lake station and See Tsuen station is not yet completed or opened although trains stop at the stations.

Full merge is rolled out on 29 August 2024 along with new host.

After the studies on feasibility of merging, it was also found that the maximum signalling headway for original WLT Line 2 sections and North Coast Line sections is similar; however, the maximum train frequency of the North Coast Line is limited by the shared section with AT Metro 2209 Service between Spawn station and Forest Peaks station. If the service between Kwong Chow station and Spawn station needed to operate at the maximum possible capacity, WLT Line 2 would need to also merge with AT Metro 2209 Service, or divert some trains away, or turn back some trains at Spawn.

Option 2 is inspired by the once operated Sightseeing Express - South Continental Line through-running service. It is chosen after more discussions and studies. A branch through-running to Cyanex Rapid Transit's Sightseeing Express Line Phase 3 (now Cyan Twilight Line) was proposed to utilize the slots allocated to AT Metro 2209 Service from Spawn station to Forest Peaks station for remaining sections from Kwong Chow station to Spawn station.

The branch also makes travelling between West Lake Area, and Bayside, Ho's Bridge and Chou Wai much more convenient, also reduces the overcrowding in Spawn-Cyan Heights Metropolis and improves player's experience¹²⁾. Therefore, although AT Metro later withdraws the 2209 service and leaves the section between Spawn and Forest Peaks to solely North Coast Line, the plan still continues.

When throughrunning starts, WLT decides to change the name to account for a long section of throughrunning shown on system map.

As Tsim Pei Tsui Peninsula east of Eden, south of Kallos and New Buckingham, north of Yunlong was not served by any means of transport (before the Highlands Line was proposed and built), and Line 2 (Kwong Pak Kwun Line) fleet is expected to be in a large surplus even when operating at ultimate peak hour frequency, it is proposed to expand Makki Memorial Village station to fit an eastbound platform in, then extend the line in 105° heading, tunnel under Lilac Light Rail tracks and turn to heading east again, finally arrive at the Peninsula after crossing the ocean east of Hung Shan station.

The extension adds three stops, Hung Shan, Lung Tau and Tsim Pei Tsui. Hung Shan is an interchange station with Metro South Continental Line and Guri Bay Line while Tsim Pei Tsui is proposed to be another interchange station with Line 4 (Elizabeth Line) besides the current West Lake station and proposed Toitoi station.

• 7 August, 2023: Revised proposal published.
• 26 November, 2023: Proposed merge of WLT Line 2 and QLR North Coast Line.
• 5 March, 2023: LPR proposed adding Dragon Loop Centre station.
• 15 March, 2023: Proposed branch through-running service with Cyan Twilight Line and Bond Line.
• 24 June, 2023: Started special shuttle service.
• 25 June, 2023: Ended special shuttle service.
• 10 July, 2023: Started again special shuttle service.
• 13 April, 2024: Sha Tsui station opens to the public.
• 5 May, 2024: First stage of merge kicks in.
• 29 August, 2024: Full merge kicks in and throughrunning starts. Name is changed to account for a rather long throughrunning section in Sightseeing Line Phase 3, 4 comparing to Kwong Chow Line section.
• 31 May, 2025: Proposal of eastern extension from Makki Memorial Village to Tsim Pei Tsui is published.
• 3 June, 2025: Trains are no longer stopping at Three Rivers station to reduce the travelling time from/to former North Coast Line stations.
• 10 August, 2025: See Tsuen station is renamed as See Tsuen (Heart of Let's Play) station and open to public.
• 28 August, 2025: Trains are now using the new platform 0 at Makki Memorial Village and carry out testing on the east extension part. Trains are also more frequent from that day onwards.
• 1 January, 2026: Eastern extension from Makki Memorial Village to Tsim Pei Tsui is open for riding, however station exits are not finished, while Tsim Pei Tsui station has utilised the emergency exit to the cave for R2C access.

Similar to Line 1 (Meyan Line), since turn radius is small between West Lake station and See Tsuen station in the final zig-zag lining plan, 4-door trains are used instead of 5-door trains that are currently running on North Coast Line. Original 6 sets of 5-door C-Train with railway vision livery has been rebuilt to 5 sets of 4-door C-Train. The first set of rebuilt C-Train has already transported to Chik Shek Wan Depot and started its passengers service on the shuttle between Kwong Chow and Sai Mo Island. 2 more sets of C-Train has also started passengers service after the first stage of merge. 1 more set of C-Train started regular service from 2024 December onwards for more frequent trains. The final set of C-Train started regular service since trains enter eastern extension section for testing.

There are also 5¹³⁾ sets of M-Train (phase 2A) and 10 sets of K-Train serving passengers.

Originally, the fleet was planned to include 3 sets of Shanghai Metro Trains 01A06 previously running on the North Coast Line. However, as the trains are too tall for the tunnels, they are planned to retire instead as soon as North Coast Line merges with WLT Line 2. Alternatively, 5 sets of phase 2C M-Train will join the fleet, but with an overhaul in the propulsion system by Alstom, as DC motor is harder to maintenance and consumes more electricity. 1 set of them has already started regular service since 2024 December, another set has started regular service since 2025 April. Remaining 3 sets started regular service since trains enter eastern extension section for testing.

Due to the platforms in Cyan Twilight Line¹⁴⁾ can only accomodate 4-car 4-door trains, trains through-running to Cyan Twilight Line and Bond Line need to consist of only 4 cars rather than 5 cars. For promotion of direct access to the Sightseeing Line network, Cyanex Rapid Transit CXD104 (previously running on Sightseeing Line, replaced by CXD107) is chosen to be the sole rolling stock used for 4-car trains. The first batch of 15 sets 4-car trains are replaced with ABB traction, for diversifying the traction brand used and also for softer traction sound. The last batch of 10 sets 4-car trains are equipped with Bombardier Mitrac (TC1110 series) traction, similar to the one on most Chinese trains built in 2000s or 2010s with Bombardier designed traction.

There are a mix of 4-car and 5-car trains running. 5-car trains are serving from Kwong Chow to Tsim Pei Tsui, and 4-car trains are serving from Kwong Chow to Ostania. They are both stopping at all intermediate stops (including WIP stations). There are a mix of 4-car and 5-car trains running between Kwong Chow and Spawn. Passengers can distinguish 5-car only waiting area from 4-car/5-car both applicable waiting area by a different colour line when 4-car/5-car trains are stopping at the same platform. The upcoming trains information in PIDS also shows the trains are 4-car or 5-car, labelled with blue colour and brown colour respectively.

Existing non-finished stations and track sections will be gradually worked on.