Having regard to the community's interest on the various levels of the West Kowloon Station (WKS), the Transport and Housing Bureau today (September 6) further provided the following information:
The WKS is a large scale railway station. To support station operation, there are back of house areas between levels in the station for use by staff of the operator of the Hong Kong Section of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link (XRL), and for rescue and escape in case of emergency and fire.
Apart from "B5 level", "B1M level" above the B1 Ticketing Hall, "B2H level" above the B2 Arrival Level, "B3M/B3H level" above the B3 Departure Level, and "B4M level" above the B4 Platform Level also have back of house areas designated for housing station facilities and for use as office by staff of the operator of the Hong Kong Section of the XRL. These back of house areas are managed by the MTR Corporation Limited (MTRCL) as the operator of the Hong Kong Section of the XRL. The Mainland Port Area comprises the designated areas on B2 and B3 Levels, the platform areas on B4 Level as well as the relevant connecting passageways, these back of house areas are not within the Mainland Port Area.
A typical level of the WKS has a floor area of around 110 000 square metres, and the floor areas of "B1M level", "B2H level", "B3M/B3H level" and "B4M level" are only around 5 600 square metres, around 10 300 square metres, around 7 200 square metres and around 4 200 square metres respectively. Such floor areas have been included in the construction floor area of 430 000 square metres announced before. In particular:
On "B1M level", there are ventilation shafts, offices of the railway operator, as well as plant rooms for air conditioning system. A section is used as restaurant open to the public;
On "B2H level", there are ventilation shafts and a refuse collection room;
On "B3M/B3H level", a section (known as "B3M level") is used as passageways to the subway that connects to the Lin Cheung Road for public use. The other sections known as "B3H level" are all back of house areas in the station with ventilation shafts installed;
On "B4M level", there are offices of the railway operator, switch rooms and plant rooms for air conditioning system, as well as refuse collection and equipment maintenance rooms.
Back of house areas are not for passenger use. Other than personnel who enters back of house areas for performance of duties with authorisation from MTRCL, or during rescue and escape in case of emergency and fire, no person shall enter back of house areas. All exits and entrances to back of house areas, including relevant passageways, doors and lifts that connect with the public areas or the Mainland Port Area in the WKS, are locked by security systems. MTRCL has a stringent control mechanism and has assigned patrols to prevent unauthorised entry into back of house areas. In addition, security systems such as closed-circuit television and alarm systems have been installed together with clear warning signs so as to prevent unauthorised persons from entering.
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