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Members approve the extension cost of Tung Chung Line is more than twice as expensive as originally scheduled Chen Fan: Reclaimed area, near stone layer

2020-05-05T07:18:07.641Z


In 2014, "Railway Development Strategy 2014" proposed seven railway solutions, including the extension of the Tung Chung Line. The Transport and Housing Bureau recently recommended that the Tung Chung Line Extension project add the Tung Chung West Extension Line and Tung Chung East Station. The estimated construction cost is about 18.7 billion yuan, which will be completed in 2029 at the earliest, and the airport railway will be built east of the Hong Kong Station. The remaining part of the U-turn tunnel extension is expected to be opened in 2032. The Legislative Council Subcommittee on Railway Matters held a meeting today (5th). Members of the cross-party Legislative Council criticized that the Tung Chung Line extension was only 1.3 kilometers long. The cost is higher than the average cost per kilometer of the Shazhong Line and the Hong Kong Section of the High Speed ​​Rail. In the end, the government must "pay the bill". Chen Fan, the Director of the Housing and Transportation Bureau, explained that the new Tung Chung East Station is now added, and the construction works are located in the reclamation area, and the cost of the stone layer near the seafront will be more expensive. He reiterated that the authorities will negotiate their financial arrangements and carefully review the construction of the project. And operating costs.


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Written by: Chen Jingqi

2020-05-05 15:15

Date of last update: 2020-05-05 15:15

In 2014, "Railway Development Strategy 2014" proposed seven railway solutions, including the extension of the Tung Chung Line. The Transport and Housing Bureau recently recommended that the Tung Chung Line Extension project add the Tung Chung West Extension Line and Tung Chung East Station. The estimated construction cost is about 18.7 billion yuan, which will be completed in 2029 at the earliest, and the airport railway will be built east of the Hong Kong Station. The remaining part of the U-turn tunnel extension is expected to be opened in 2032.

The Legislative Council Subcommittee on Railway Matters held a meeting today (5th). Members of the cross-party Legislative Council criticized that the Tung Chung Line extension was only 1.3 kilometers long. The cost is higher than the average cost per kilometer of the Shazhong Line and the Hong Kong Section of the High Speed ​​Rail. In the end, the government must "pay the bill". Chen Fan, the director of the Transportation Bureau, explained that the new Tung Chung East Station is now added, and that the construction works are located in the reclamation area, and the cost of the rock formation near the seafront will be more expensive. And operating costs.

The Tung Chung West Extension Line is 1.3 kilometers long, with the addition of Tung Chung West Station and Tung Chung East Station on the Tung Chung Line. (Screenshot of Legislative Council documents)

Mao Mengjing, a member of the Legislative Council of the Parliamentary Front, said that the Railway Development Strategy 2014 had proposed to calculate the cost at 6 billion yuan based on the 2013 price. However, the current calculation based on the December 2016 price has increased more than 2 times to 18.7 billion yuan. At the same time, it also pointed out that in 2016, the Kwun Tong Line extension added two stations, 2.6 kilometers long, and the cost was only 7.2 billion yuan. It questioned why the Tung Chung West Extension line was so expensive.

Lu Songxiong, a member of the Legislative Council of the Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions, pointed out that the authorities would build the extension of the Tung Chung Line in the ownership mode and asked whether it would be built in the railway and property mode, that is, the Hong Kong Government does not need to pay any engineering costs to the MTR.

In the Tung Chung West Extension project, it is proposed to construct the airport railway U-turn tunnel to the east of Hong Kong Station to extend the remaining section, which is about 460 meters long. (Screenshot of Legislative Council documents)

Chen Fan, Director of the Transportation Bureau explained that the "Railway Development Strategy 2014" only focuses on the construction of Tung Chung West Station, but now the Tung Chung East Station is further added, and the project is located near the seabed in the reclamation area. The cost will be "expensive." During the detailed planning and facilities of the MTR, the construction costs and construction costs will be reviewed at the same time. After preliminary determination, the district council and the Legislative Council will be consulted. The Director of Highways, Chen Paiming, added that the Kwun Tong Line extension does not have an extension of the U-turn tunnel of the Airport Railway, and it is a large-scale project on Lung Wo Road in Central District, so it is not possible to directly compare the two.

Chen Fan: Will strengthen transportation facilities during the transition period

Regarding the business model, Chen Fan said that the meeting will promote the project with ownership. Whether the government has to pay MTR fees depends on whether the MTR has a property development project. If the income is sufficient to cover the relevant costs, the authorities will not need to provide subsidies. At the same time, it was admitted that the first residents of Tung Chung moved in in 2024, but the railway must be completed in 2029, so it will strengthen the road transportation facilities during the transition period.

Tung Chung West Station will be located in Mandong Village. (Profile picture)

Assistant Director of Transportation, Bus and Railway Huang Zhiguang said that he will discuss with the HA and set up a bus interchange at the bus terminal. It will also increase the current bus frequency from time to time in the annual bus route development plan. As for the study of the shuttle railway connecting Tung Chung East Station and the airport, Wei Hanhua, Deputy Director of the Railway Development Department of the Highways Department explained that if the project is implemented, the airport express line will be reduced from 135 kilometers per hour to 50 kilometers, thereby increasing travel time and aggravating The load on the Tung Chung Line and the delay in the completion of the Tung Chung East Station will not be carried out.

In addition, regarding the train derailment accident at the Hung Hom Station on the East Rail Line in September last year and the accident near the Lijing Station on the Tsuen Wan Line in October, Kwong Jun-woo, a member of the Democratic Legislative Council, shelled out that MTR executives were not responsible for the incident. Tian Beichen, a member of the Legislative Council of the Real Political Round Table, also questioned whether his track maintenance supervisor was transferred to the derailment. Ms. Li Jiarun, MTR's Chief of Vehicle Services, did not respond positively, explaining that the incident is still in progress, only saying that different ranks should be responsible for the incident in response to their duties, and will have corresponding personnel handling in accordance with the company's internal procedures, and again apologize to the public for the incident.

MTR commences prequalification for preliminary design of Tung Chung Line extension

Planning and design of the North Loop Line, Tung Chung Line Extension and Tuen Mun South Extension will take 3 to 5 years

Transportation Bureau: Tung Chung Line Extension is expected to be completed in 2029 and plans to add Tung Chung West Station and Tung Chung East Station

Tung Chung MTR

Source: hk1

All news articles on 2020-05-05

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