MTRC puts up plan for Hunghom extension
Officials are said to prefer Kwun Tong line option to rival's people-mover
The MTR Corp has submitted a proposal to extend its Kwun Tong line between Yau Ma Tei and Hunghom to fend off a rival's competition, a spokesman said yesterday.
It said it gave the government the preliminary proposal on February 27. Its extension, to Whampoa Garden, would link up with the KCR Corp's proposed $35.5 billion rail line running between Sha Tin and Central.
The government had invited the MTRC to plan the extension, thinking it would help reduce future competition with the KCRC's Sha Tin-Central rail link, tendered in 2002.
'It will provide a point of access to the MTR networks,' an MTRC spokesman said.
The MTRC proposal is an alternative to the KCRC's planned people-mover system between Hunghom and Whampoa Garden as part of the Sha Tin-Central project.
The people-mover, an automated rail system, would convey passengers 1.6km from Whampoa to Hunghom station.
The government said it would consider the MTRC proposal after the KCRC finalised the route of the Sha Tin-Central line.
Sources close to the government said the transport bureau favoured the MTRC proposal.
The Whampoa people mover is to be debated at a Legislative Council meeting today. In its Kwun Tong line extension, the MTRC proposes building a 3km extension from Yau Ma Tei station to Whampoa Garden through Ho Man Tin.
Another new station is likely to be built in Ho Man Tin as a train interchange with the Sha Tin-Central link.
The MTRC spokesman said it was premature to predict the completion date of the proposed Kwun Tong line extension, but construction over such a distance normally would take about 31/2 years.
He said construction costs would be worked out in a more detailed study later.
Secretary for Environment, Transport and Works Sarah Liao Sau-tung said last month that the Kwun Tong line extension would help reduce the adverse impacts arising from the Sha Tin-Central line, which would poach passengers from the MTRC's harbour-crossing subway lines.
The Kwun Tong line extension was part of the MTRC's ill-fated bid for the Sha Tin-Central rail link in 2001.
The potential competition could be resolved through a possible integration of the two rail companies.
The MTRC, KCRC and their common controlling shareholder, the government, met for the first time last Friday to discuss a merger plan.
The talks are due to be concluded at the end of August.
