Hong Kong’s Chief Executive in Council has authorised the MTR’s US$680M-US$720M Kwun Tong Line Extension (KTE) and US$1.6bn – US$1.62bn South Island Line (SIL) (East) under the Railways Ordinance, paving the way for a construction to start on both in mid 2011. The 7km long SIL (East) includes 4km of drill and blast tunnel, whilst the 3km long KTE runs completely underground. The KTE is an extension of the existing MTR Kwun Tong Line from Yau Ma Tei Station to Whampoa, with two new stations at Ho Man Tin and Whampoa.
A government spokesman said, “At present, traffic congestion from the Cross Harbour Tunnel seriously affects access to and from Hung Hom during peak hours with traffic tailing back from the Cross Harbour Tunnel to the road networks in Hung Hom and Yau Ma Tei. With the KTE, a journey from Whampoa to Mong Kok, which normally takes about 25 minutes by road during rush hours, could be slashed to about five minutes.”
“The KTE will be implemented as a MTRCL project under the ownership approach. The cost estimate of the KTE in 2007 prices was about US$540M and the project was considered as not financially viable. Construction prices have escalated by about 30% from 2007 to 2009 due to the surge in construction material prices. Apart from this, refinement of the project details and amendments in the detailed design also account for the cost increase. According to the MTRCL’s recent assessment in 2009 prices, the construction cost estimate of KTE ranges from US$680M to US$720M.
“The MTRCL is finalising its detailed design of the rail project which may entail final technical fine tuning. This may have minor impact on the project cost. We expect the final cost to be available in the first quarter of 2011. The Administration will continue close monitoring of the project expenditure and ensure MTRCL will exercise due diligence in budget control. We have also engaged an independent consultant to conduct an assessment of the project cost estimate and the funding gap,” the spokesman added.
A site at the ex-Valley Road Estate will be available for the rail plus property development for the KTE. The spokesman said that the Administration will carefully consider and scrutinise the MTRCL’s development proposal and have engaged an independent consultant for assistance.
“We will give due consideration to ensure that the funding support is fair and reasonable, without affecting the prudent commercial principle in railway operation,” the spokesman said.
It is expected that the construction works of the KTE will start in mid-2011 for completion in 2015.
The SIL (East) is a 7km long railway between Admiralty and South Horizons, with three intermediate stations near Ocean Park, and at Wong Chuk Hang and Lei Tung Estate.
“The SIL (East) will help reduce road traffic in the Southern District, particularly the Aberdeen Tunnel. With the SIL (East), passengers will be able to travel from South Horizons to Admiralty in about 10 minutes, as compared with 25 to 45 minutes by using road-based transport during rush hours,” a government spokesman said.
The SIL (East) railway scheme was first gazetted on July 24, 2009 and amendments to the scheme were gazetted on June 4, 2010.
The SIL is one of the major infrastructure projects the Chief Executive announced in his Policy Address in October 2007.
“The SIL (East) will be implemented as an MTRCL project under the ownership approach. The cost estimate of the SIL (East) in 2006 prices was over US$900M and the project was not considered as financially viable. Construction prices have escalated by about 55% from 2006 to 2009 due to the surge in construction material prices. Apart from this, refinement of the project details and amendments in the detailed design in response to public views and technical needs also account for the cost increase. According to the MTRCL’s recent assessment in 2009 prices, the estimated construction cost of SIL (East) ranges from US$1.6bn to US$1.62bn.
As with SIL (EAST), the MTRCL is finalising the detailed design which may entail final technical fine-tuning, and have a minor impact on the project cost. We expect the final cost to be available in the first quarter of 2011.
A site at the ex-Wong Chuk Hang Estate has been reserved for rail plus property development for the SIL (East).
“We will give due consideration to ensure that the funding support is fair and reasonable, without affecting the prudent commercial principle in railway operation,” the spokesman said.
Construction work for the SIL (East) is expected to commence in mid-2011 for completion in 2015.
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