Co
Balfour Beatty have recently been awarded the £4m. contract. for supplying and mistilling the overhead line for electrification
works contract against local and Japanese competition.
Civil
works were awarded to the Japanese. The total project is within budget and slightly ahead of programme. The rolling stock contracts in particular have been a major success for the UK and the "shop window" gained by Metro Cammell puts them in a very strong position to bid for the next major overseas project of this
Alge
type
1981/82.
the proposed Singapore Mass Transit which may go ahead in
Kowloon Canton Railway (Hong Kong Section)
3. This project involves modernisation of the 35 km line from Kowloon to the Chinese border at Lo Wu. The total cost is about
£130 million. The original timescale for the project has slipped due to funding difficulties and it is not now expected to be completed until 1982.
4. UK firms have picked up the major contracts so far awarded. Following a feasibility study in 1977, Transmark was awarded a £3 million contract to oversee the modernisation programme. It also has responsibility for the detailed design and supervision of construction of the inter-change station (with the Mass Transit Railway) at Kowloon Tong. In addition, Met Cam have been awarded the £44 million rolling stock contract and Westinghouse Brake and Signal a £6.6 million signalling and telecommunications contract. Island Corridor Extension to Mass Transit
5. Plans have been announced for the development of a mass transport system on the northern side of Hong Kong Island. The original intention was an island line extension to the underground Mass Transit Railway (MTR) but the disruption to building this would cause was considered unacceptable in the short term. Attention is now focussed on a proposal put forward by the UK based consultants Martin and Voorhees Associates for a 'pre-Metro' surface system based on continental single deck light rail vehicles (LRVs). However, the timing of the project is uncertain.
6. In addition to the LRV system the Martin and Voorhees plan
proposes:
(a) the construction of tunnels to provide an interchange
between the MTR and the LRVS at an estimated cost of £125
million.
(b)
the eventual construction in the late 1980s of a new
underground line.