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HK-Baoan airport line may threaten ecologically sensitive area

Anita Lam

A planned rail link between Hong Kong and Shenzhen airports may stop in the ecologically sensitive area of Sheung Pak Nai.

That possibility was raised yesterday at a symposium on high-speed rail by Qi Zhenming, deputy general manager of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Dedicated Passenger Line Company.

Sheung Pak Nai is an area rich in mangroves and mudflats.

An official later clarified anonymously that the government had tentatively explored the area as a site to house the link's emergency rescue station, but it was only one of the proposed options and planning of the alignment was not yet finished.

The 50-kilometre line will link Chek Lap Kok to Shenzhen's Baoan airport via Qianhai . Authorities are studying if a spur line should be built at the same time to connect the link to West Rail.

Matthew Sin Kar-wah of Green Power feared any project in Sheung Pak Nai would harm its ecology and wildlife.

'The area has a special scientific interest. A rare sea grass grows in the mudflats and the mangroves attract birds and gulls,' he said.

The Transport and Housing Bureau said authorities were still working on an alignment.

The link was found technically viable by a study last year, but its progress has been halted since Shenzhen officials said in May that construction costs could top HK$50 billion. Hong Kong officials are also pushing ahead a high-speed link to Guangzhou.

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