Line 2 (Kwong Chow - North Coast Line) 二號 (光州 - 北海岸) 綫
A K-Train arrived at Sai Mo Island
Overview
Abbreviation	L2 (KNL)
Status	Operational (West section) (Kwong Chow - Forest Peaks) Under construction (West Lake, See Tsuen) Operational (East section) (Coast City - Makki Memorial Village)
Owner	WLT (Kwong Chow - Spawn) Auckland Transport (Spawn - Coast City) Qingli Railways (Coast City - Makki Memorial Village, except Dragon Loop Centre) Lilypad Rail (Dragon Loop Centre)
Locale	West Lake Spawn Waitematā and Toitoi
Termini	Kwong Chow Forest Peaks (West section temporary terminus) Coast City (East section temporary terminus) Ostania (future through-running service with CyanEX Rapid Transit) Makki Memorial Village
Connecting Lines	Line 1 (Meyan Line) Phase 1
	Line 3 (Cyan Gray Line)
	Hana-Koshi Line
	Elizabeth Line
	Spawn Grand Circular
	Airport Express(WIP)
	Scottetsu Line
	Furret Line
	(Bayside) Red Line
	High Speed Rail
	Pengaloo Line
	AT Metro
	AT Regional
	Lilac Light Rail
	Chin Ka Village Fast, Frequent and Free Light Rail
	Azalea Cyan Line
	Kallos Ferry
Stations	10 (3 work in progress)
Service
Operator(s)	WLT
Service Hours	04:49 - next day 03:29 (UTC+8) (West Section) 04:06 - next day 03:54 (UTC+8) (East Section)
Frequency	Every 3 - 12 mins
Depot	Chik Shek Wan Depot
Rolling Stock	M-Train (small variant) K-Train (small variant) C-Train (small variant) CyanEX CXD104 01A06
History
Opened	First open: 24 June, 2023 (Special shuttle: Kwong Chow, Sai Mo Island) 13 April, 2024 (Sha Tsui station) TBC (Spawn - Coast City) TBC (Coast City - Makki Memorial Village) Merge: 5 May, 2024 (Spawn - Forest Peaks)
Technical
Line Length	5 km
Number of Tracks	Double Track
Operating Speed	Average: 33 km/h (9.2 m/s) Maximum: 105 km/h (29.2 m/s)
Signalling System	MTR Mod's Signalling (with advanced speed controlling)
Route Map
(Coming Soon)

Line 2 (Kwong Chow - North Coast Line) (Chinese: 二號 (光州 - 北海岸) 綫), is a rapid transit service operated by West Lake Transport Authority and future also Qingli Railways (QLR) and Cyanex Rapid Transit (Cyanex), combining WLT Line 2 which goes from Kwong Chow station to Spawn station and QLR North Coast Line which goes from Spawn station to Makki Memorial Village 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) Phase 1¹⁾.

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 level²⁾ 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 Metropolis³⁾ 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 service⁴⁾ 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 length⁵⁾ and door spacing⁶⁾, 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.

• 7 August, 2023: Revised proposal published.
• 26 November, 2023: Proposed merge of WLT Line 2 and QLR North Coast Line.
• 5 March, 2023: LPR's 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.

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. Existing 6 sets of 5-door C-Train with railway vision livery is gradually rebuilding to 5 sets of 4-door C-Train. 1 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.

There are also 3 set of M-Train (phase 2A) and 6 sets of K-Train have started 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, as DC motor is harder to maintenance and consumes more electricity.

Due to the platforms in Cyan Twilight Line⁷⁾ 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 is chosen to be the sole rolling stock used for 4-car trains. Yet, ABB FW D950 traction instead of CRRC Times tpower-tn3 traction or Alstom Optonix1500 traction equipped by trains running on the Sightseeing Line is equipped for first batch of 15 sets 4-car trains, possibly because of it allowing a tuning with softer sound. It is planned that the next and last batch of 10 sets 4-car trains will be equipped with Bombardier Mitrac (TC1110 series) traction

For Line 2 (Kwong Chow - North Coast Line) W. Section, there are a mix of 4-car and 5-car trains running. 5-car trains are serving from Kwong Chow to Forest Peaks, and 4-car trains are serving from Kwong Chow to Spawn. 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.

For North Coast Line, trains are serving from Coast City to Makki Memorial Village calling at all intermediate stops except Dragon Loop Centre. Trains may travel slower between Toitoi station and Makki Memorial Village station for safety measures before the section is rebuilt with smoother curvature and inclination.

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 experience¹⁵⁾. 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, and is expected to be done along with the second stage of merge.