Move it! 55 per cent of Hongkongers want lawmakers to approve extra cash for high-speed railway
They say it would be a waste of the largely completed work if the HK$19.6 billion was not given the green light, survey finds
More than half of Hongkongers wanted lawmakers to approve the government’s request for an extra HK$19.6 billion to complete the high-speed rail link to Guangzhou, a survey found, but more than a third objected.
The survey also found people held mixed views on what immigration arrangements should be adopted for the cross-border link, the cost of which has ballooned to HK$84.42 billion and the completion date pushed back to the third quarter of 2018.
The Hong Kong Institute of Asia-Pacific Studies of Chinese University carried out phone interviews with 805 adults in the city about their views on the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link from February 19 to 24.
Among those in favour, more than 40 per cent said the main reason was “it would be a waste if the construction of the largely completed Express Rail Link was stopped”.
READ MORE: MTR told to plan for suspension of project
On Monday, the MTR Corporation was ordered by the government to map out a plan for suspension of the project after lawmakers failed to put the funding request to a vote last month.