Scrap high-speed rail and turn Hong Kong terminus into underground shopping mall, says think tank

The massively over-budget high-speed rail link to Guangzhou should be shelved and the hole in the ground at West Kowloon replaced with a subterranean “commercial city” to avoid it going to waste, a member of an independent lobby group says.

Engineer Albert Lai Kwong-tak of the Professional Commons said the 380,000 sqm construction site for the West Kowloon Terminus was extremely high in value and proposed instead that 60 per cent of the space be turned into an “underground shopping city”.

“The government claims the project would bring economic benefits of HK$78 billion over 50 years but the cost is now HK$85 billion. The project is definitely a loss, not a gain,” he said.

By redoing the planning work and developing the site into a 200,000 sqm retail city charging shops rent of $155 per square foot – the rate MTR currently charges its shops – Lai calculated it could bring about HK$30 billion in revenue per year and at least HK$180 billion over 50 years. The other 40 per cent of space could be used for government or community use.

READ MORE: MTR, Hong Kong government on collision course as cost of Guangzhou rail link soars to HK$85.3 billion

“You can do the maths on which would generate the bigger economic benefits. Hong Kong’s ability to develop a commercial area is certainly greater than its ability to build a high speed rail”.

Lai said there was no choice for the MTR not to halt the works anyway if the dispute between the government and the corporation ended up in court. The best move to avoid wasting anymore money and time would be for the government to take back the land and make use of it. “Its clear the MTR has completely lost control of costs,” he said.