This year, Hong Kong MTR Corp will open its seventh line, and the first to be fully-automated. The 3·4km Disneyland Resort Line (DRL) will connect the Hong Kong Disneyland theme park at Penny's Bay on the south coast of Lantau Island with the new Sunny Bay station on the Tung Chung Line near Yam O. Journey time on the single-track line will be around 3½min, with trains running at headways of 4 to 10 min.

DRL will be operated by four-car and eight-car trainsets of existing stock which have been refurbished and equipped with Alcatel's Seltrac S40 CBTC for what MTR designates as FAO (Fully Automatic Operation). The units must still be able to operate using the standard Sacem ATO equipment as they have to traverse the Tung Chung Line to reach their maintenance depot.

Managing Director, Operations & Business Development, Phil Gaffney told the UITP metros conference that MTR was working towards FAO trials on a section of its main network in 2008-09, under an Incremental Development Strategy, which his Chairman had described as 'automation by stealth'.

Gaffney reminded delegates to the UITP Metro Conference in Nürnberg that MTR had now been open for 25 years, during which time traffic had risen steadily to an average of 2·4 million passengers a day, and over 2·5 million on at least one day per week. MTR set a new one-day record on Christmas Eve, when the 88 km network carried 3 38 million passengers between 06.00 on December 24 and 05.00 on December 25.

MTR has been 'using ATO from Day 1', with train operators responsible for opening and closing the doors, making announcements, starting trains from stations and dealing with any emergencies. Gaffney said that international benchmarking had shown 'we are a fairly efficient operation.'

For several years MTR has used an automated reversing function at terminals, with the trains running into a reversing neck and returning automatically to the departure platform while the driver changes ends. The Incremental Development Strategy would build on this facility, using an automatic door close function linked to the on-train timetable clock and validated by a train regulator. A two-month trial of automatic door closing began on the Island Line on December 20. Gaffney said draft detailed specifications for FAO had been drawn up and were being independently validated by RATP.

Another step towards FAO comes with the installation of platform screen doors, which is due to be finished this year and is currently running ahead of schedule. The programme has been justified by improved platform safety and air-conditioning energy savings, and Gaffney said it was 'not directly related to FAO'. However, he said that MTR was now considering whether to fit half-height barriers at open-air stations along the lines of those being installed on DRL.

• To mark the start of trials of automatic train door closing on the Island Line in December, MTR Head of Operations Wilfred Lau demonstrated the sensitive door edges fitted to all trainsets
• Nearing completion on Lantau Island is the new station at Sunny Bay where MTR's fully-automated Disneyland Resort Line will interchange with the Tung Chun Line Photos:MTR Corp