History
In October 1989, the Hong Kong government decided to replace the over-crowded Kai Tak Airport, located in Kowloon, with a new airport to be constructed at Chek Lap Kok. The government also invited the MTR, then called the MTRC, to build an express line to the airport called the Lantau Airport Railway. The project did not begin until the Chinese government and the British government settled financial and land disagreements in November 1994.
The Lantau Airport Railway was developed as two separate MTR lines, the Tung Chung Line and the Airport Express, with the two lines sharing tracks for parts of their journey. The Airport Express began service on 6 July 1998, the same date as the new Hong Kong International Airport, and initially terminated at Airport Station. The journey time on the initial line was 23 minutes.
With the opening of Sunny Bay Station on the adjacent Tung Chung Line in June 2005, the total journey time between the Airport and Hong Kong Stations increased to 24 minutes. With the opening of AsiaWorld-Expo, Airport Express was extended to AsiaWorld-Expo Station on 20 December 2005. The journey time to this station from Hong Kong is 28 minutes.
Read more about this topic: Airport Express (MTR)
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