Wan Chai could get three more stations as part of MTR shake-up

Three stations would be built in or close to Wan Chai if a proposal to construct a new rail line is adopted to ease congestion.

Under one of two options, trains would cease running the full length of the MTR's Island Line. Passengers boarding in the eastern part of Hong Kong Island would have to change trains to reach Wan Chai and Central.

The plan is one of seven proposals put forward in the second stage of a public consultation about long-term railway development. The consultation will last three months.

It puts forward two options for creating a North Island line. Under one of these options, stations on the existing Island Line would be divided between the Tseung Kwan O Line, on which trains would run between Tseung Kwan O and Kennedy Town, and the Tung Chung Line, on which trains would run from Tung Chung to Chai Wan.

Three new stations - Tamar, Exhibition (for the Convention and Exhibition Centre), and Causeway Bay North - would be on the Tung Ching Line.

Passengers boarding in Eastern District for travel to Fortress Hill and beyond on what is now the Island Line would have to change to a Tung Chung Line train at North Point; if the current service frequency on the latter were maintained, they could face a wait of several minutes for a connecting train.

The other proposal for a North Island line would see Tseung Kwan O Line trains running to and from Tamar along the new route, with an interchange at Tamar to the Tung Chung Line. Island Line trains would run between Chai Wan and Kennedy Town. A consultants' report said this option would do less to ease congestion.