Quality Alchemist (品質煉金術師): Visit to Ngong Ping 360 Cable Car Terminal

"Technical Visit to Tung Chung Cable Car Terminal" was organized by Hong Kong Society for Quality (HKSQ) on 23rd Nov 2012. It was on of activities that HKSQ celebrated World Quality Month (WQM) 2012. Ngong Ping 360 Cable Car System was constructed by Hong Kong MTR Corporation, the operator of Hong Kong's rail system. It is now operated by a wholly owned subsidiary of the MTR Corporation - NP360. "Ngong Ping 360" means the passengers have 360-degree view of Lantau Island. HKSQ members visited the Operation Control Centre (OCC), Garage and had opportunity of appreciation of cable car operation.

The whole visit was summarized below for sharing.

We gathered at MTR Tung Chung Station at 9:15am.

Then we went to the Ngong Ping 360 office and a group photo was taken.

In the meeting room, Mr. Karson Chui (Chairman, HKSQ) briefed today's arrangement and appreciated NP360 hospitality.

Mr. Samuel Lee (Cable Car Technical Support Manager, NP360) gave us a presentation entitled "Overview of Cable Car System". His talk included "Alignment", "Key Parameters", "System Configuration" and "Carriers & Garage".

The diagram showed the overview of the NP360 from Tung Chung Terminal to Ngong Ping Terminal. Mr. Lee said NP360 is one of most complicated cable car system because of two angle changing design based on the topography. The total length was 5.7km.

There are 2 Terminals and 2 Angle Stations (Airport Island Angle Station (AIAS) - 60 degree and Nei Lak Shan Angle Station (NLSAS) - 20 degree), as well as, 8 Towers. The maximum elevation is Tower 6 (585m) and the tallest tower is T2B (55m).

Then Mr. Lee explained the Bi-cable Design to us. Track rope is used to support cabins on line and Haul rope is employed to keep cabins moving on line. The line speed is 7m/s (max.) and station speed is from 0 to 0.25m/s. Three operation modes were introduced. The maximum capacity is up to 109 carriers using for holiday and the medium capacity is 84 carriers from working day. Special mode using 3 carriers (2 cabins and 1 work car) for maintenance.

The diagram showed Track Rope Anchoring. The red color block has 4mm gap which is a safety device to detect any deviation of cable mechanic system.

Different monitoring devices such as CCTV, Emergency Light and Wind Sensor, as well as, some safety device were mentioned.

After that Mr. Lee briefed the design of Crystal Cabins. There are 36 crystal cabins and 10 persions for each cabin. A single piece of layered tempered glass (3 layer (4.84cm) and added one protective coating) is adopted as the cabin bottom. New 360 Sky Lounge was introduced which made with Swarovski crystals inside the cabin.
Cabin was designed for max. 17 person (10 seats plus 7 standing) with Solar battery power, LED light and emergency facilities.

After the talk, our chairman represented HKSQ to present flag for Mr. Lee memory. Then we started to visit their operation centre.

Mr. Lee explained their work in Operation Control Centre. It was included monitoring cabins operation, environmental data such as wind speed and direction, and control emergency announcement.

They had emergency three steps poster. Step 1 - Stop and collect information; Step 2 - Think and analysis; and Step 3 - Make decision based on situation. NP360 has ISO 9001 and OHSAS 18001. Once incident happened, the red count would be activated. They had contingency plan on different time with different action.