Proposed rail merger 'will cost the taxpayer'
For a deal meant to save money, the proposed merger between the city's two railway companies is already adding to the taxpayer's burden.
The Environment, Transport and Works Bureau told Legco yesterday that it needed more manpower to cope with the additional workload arising from the merger of the MTR Corporation and Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation.
In a Legislative Council paper, the bureau proposed creating a dedicated team to handle the issue, consisting of one deputy secretary and a principal assistant secretary.
The pair would cost the government an average of $4.3 million per year in staff costs.
The government has given the two rail operators an August deadline to set the terms of the merger.
'There is a huge amount of work to be done by August. With [this consideration] it is necessary to strengthen our directorate support,' the bureau said.
Issues to be dealt with included a review of the fare structure, the development of a fare adjustment formula, the resolution of interchange arrangements for rail projects under planning, human resources and other matters, it said.
'Taking into account the complexity of and the procedures required for the merger exercise, we propose that the posts be created for a period of two years,' the bureau said.
The cost of the pair would be met by internal redeployment of resources within the bureau, it said.
Two permanent Civil Engineering Department posts - one assistant director position and one chief engineer - will be eliminated.
The bureau also said that, in the event the proposed merger fell through, the two new posts would be made redundant.
Meanwhile, the Highways Department is asking to establish a project management office for the proposed Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau bridge and related highway projects.
