Surprise new MTR line planned for Kwun Tong
However, there are fears the HK$27.5 billion project in the transport blueprint may never materialise due to geological obstacles
The hilly north of Kwun Tong is to get a new rail line under the government's latest transport blueprint - only the surprise announcement was greeted with concern the geographical challenges would make it impossible.
The planned East Kowloon Line was not one of the routes included in a public consultation last year, but with an estimated cost of HK$27.5 billion, it was the most expensive of the six proposed new lines in the railway strategy review report published yesterday.
It would connect the existing Po Lam station on the Tseung Kwan O Line with Diamond Hill station on the Kwun Tong Line, and four new stations would be added across northern Kowloon - at Po Tat, Sau Mau Ping, Choi Wan and Shun Tin.
It was drawn up in view of two housing projects - at Anderson Road and Anderson Road quarry, in Sau Mau Ping. Nearly 18,000 public flats and 7,500 private flats will be built, bringing an additional population of 73,000 by 2026 to an area now home to 300,000 people.
Cheung Ki-tang, vice-chairman of Kwun Tong District Council's traffic and transport committee, welcomed the plan. "Those living in Po Tat Estate, for example, often have to wait for 20 to 30 minutes to get onto a minibus connecting to Yau Tong or Lam Tin.
"The new railway will be much more convenient," he said, adding that it would also make the future commercial hub in Kai Tak more accessible.