Hong Kong employees from MTR Corp who worked as volunteers in the subway stations of Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, during the 19th Asian Games pose for a group photo. (PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)
“Everything looks alien but also familiar” was the first thing that came to mind among a group of Hong Kong employees from MTR Corp who worked as volunteers in the subway stations of Hangzhou during the 19th Asian Games.
The volunteers came from different parts of the country and worked in a land that many of them had never visited before. However, the two weeks of volunteer work during the Games, held from Sept 23 through Oct 8, made them more truly feel the economic and psychological bonds, which are enhanced by cross-boundary railway cooperation.
As Hong Kong’s sole metro operator, MTR has extended its business network beyond the city’s border. Apart from a host of overseas projects, MTR’s subsidiaries and joint venture companies are operating subway lines in a host of mainland cities, including subway Lines 1 and 5 in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province.
Two months before the Hangzhou Asian Games, MTR assembled a task force made up of 70 employees from Beijing, Shenzhen, and Hong Kong to work at information desks to be set in 18 subways stations in Hangzhou during the Asian Games. The desks provided information and other handy services for local residents and visitors.
Every information desk had “treasure chests” in which hygiene products, power banks, reading glasses for elderly people, sewing kit and other gadgets were neatly arranged to meet passengers’ urgent needs.
The service mode of MTR in Hangzhou “has a very similar DNA to that of Hong Kong’s MTR, and we only needed to change the language from Cantonese to Mandarin”, said a Hong Kong volunteer who was in Hangzhou for the first time.
Everything seemed both strange and familiar, for although the Hangzhou lines are across a border, a familiar connection exists.
Nelson Ng Wai-hung, MTR’s general manager-Hangzhou and the coordinator of the MTR volunteer team, recalled one man in particular whom they helped. “There was an overseas Chinese who resided in the United States and had come to Hangzhou to see the Asian Games. He can’t speak much Mandarin and wanted to buy a ticket for the games.”
However, the man did not know how to complete the real-name authentication on his phone, which was required to buy tickets. So the volunteers helped him get a ticket. “He could realize his dream of watching the Asian Games,” Ng said.
On the next day, the man they assisted came back to the information desk, asking about attractions in Hangzhou. Before he left, the man gave the volunteers a thank-you note to express his appreciation.
Ng said that the volunteer team received more than 600 thank-you notes and complimentary phone calls during their voluntary work.
Ng was already familiar with the East China city. He was assigned to Hangzhou in 2017 to participate in the construction and preparation of the city’s Metro Line 5, which is now operated by Hangzhou MTR Line 5 Corp Ltd. Ng returned to Hong Kong in 2020, and was reassigned to Hangzhou again in April. This time, he is in charge of the operation work.
Ng said he is so glad to see that Line 5, the project he once worked on, is now providing convenience to many people commuting between their homes and offices and schools.
To Ng, the line is like his child — “The baby is really well-behaved and obedient, beyond my estimation. (This time), I will make good plans for its next 10 years, 20 years,” he said.
MTR introduced many advanced elements when building Line 5, including dynamic route maps, to provide a better experience for Hangzhou residents. Apart from MTR’s achievements, Ng was also amazed by the huge changes in the entire Hangzhou subway system. “Just in three years, the number of the city’s subway lines increased from two and a half to 12 today,” he added.
Horace Wong Ka-ming, another Hong Kong volunteer in the task force, recalled that Hangzhou saw a huge number of visitors during the Asiad, as the multisports meeting coincided with the Mid-Autumn Festival and the National Day holidays.
One day, a girl on her way to the railway station was carrying about 10 boxes of mooncakes when, in her rush, she dropped the mooncakes without realizing it. Although this was not part of the volunteers’ work, they, Wong included, instantly alerted the girl and helped her pick up the mooncakes. The volunteers also brought her to the entrance of the station, helping her catch the high-speed train.
Wong, a group station manager of Tuen Ma Line, had not been to Hangzhou before the voluntary work. But he got used to the city within a few days. He said the design of the subway stations, signage and even the layout of the control room are all similar to those of Hong Kong. “It seems to have a sense of connection, familiarity,” he said.
Wong said he learned a lot of skills in dealing with crowd management from his enthusiastic Hangzhou colleagues. In view of the upcoming opening of the Kai Tak Sports Park, he hopes to apply the skills in the management of the Kai Tak Station, which is on the Tuen Ma Line, as the under-construction Kai Tak Sports Park near the station will attract many passengers.
Although the volunteer work in Hangzhou is not like his daily work, he integrated the customer service concepts he learned in Hong Kong into his voluntary work. In addition to helping residents and tourists in Hangzhou, Wong also enjoyed West Lake and other attractions in the city and cheered for the Asian Games.
The MTR-operated Hangzhou Metro Lines 1 and 5 became the two lines with the highest daily passenger volume in Hangzhou during the Asian Games, with a total 1.8 million passengers.
Apart from Hangzhou, Beijing’s Metro Line 4, 14, 16, 17 and the Daxing Line, as well as Shenzhen’s Line 4, are also operated by MTR. The total mileage of MTR’s business in the mainland has reached 360 kilometers, which is longer than Hong Kong’s MTR network.
The Hangzhou Asian Games, as a major event, linked people from all over the country, including many Hong Kong residents. For instance, nearly 30 students from the University of Hong Kong and the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology participated in the sports meeting as volunteers.
