HK Plans Further Railway ExpansionTwo local railway corporations, the MTR Corporation Ltd (MTRCL), and the Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation (KCRC), have been invited to bid for the Sha Tin to Central Link (SCL) as part of Hong Kong's railway expansion project.At the same time, the MTRCL is asked to submit project proposal for the Island Line Extensions (ILE) and the KCRC for the Kowloon Southern Link (KSL). "The railway expansion plan in the next two decades as set out in the Railway Development Strategy 2000 published last May has received general support from all sectors of the community," a spokesman for the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government said. For the SCL, a Project Brief stipulating the essential requirements has been drawn up so that the two corporations have a common basis to prepare their bidding proposals. The spokesman said: "To ensure a level-playing field, we will decide on the SCL operator based on like-for-like comparison of conforming proposals which meet all the requirements including the alignment specified in the Project Brief." The government expects to receive proposals for the three projects from the corporations in six months' time and to reach a decision on the operator for SCL by the end of this year. "The proposals will be assessed on technical aspects including passenger convenience; implications on land resumption, environment and traffic; integration with existing and planned land use; feasibility for earlier completion for the whole or part of the Link; fare level and other financial aspects," the spokesman said. The Railway Development Strategy 2000 envisaged that the likely completion window for SCL would be 2008 to 2011 and for ILE and KSL, 2008 to 2012 and 2008 to 2013 respectively. "As a rail project typically takes eight to ten years from planning to completion, further planning of these three projects is necessary in order to serve the various major development programs now being actively planned. "The actual implementation programs will become clearer after detailed studies by the corporations and phased implementation may be possible," the spokesman said. |
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