COMMERCIAL-IN-CONFIDENCE
Brief No 8/2
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 type the proposed Singapore mass Transit which may go ahead in 1981/82.
Kowloon
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Canton Railway (Hong Kong Section)
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This project involves the modernisation of the 35 km line from Kowloon to the Chinese border at Lo Wu. The total cost of the modernisation programme which involves electrification, double tracking, new rolling stock and station improvements - 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.
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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. Some tenders have still to be issued notably those for overhead line power distribution (Balfour Beatty are pursuing these) and for civil works such as station alterations, trackwork and engineering depots. It is unlikely that the civil works will be placed with UK firms as local contractors are well able to cope.
Island Corridor Extension to Mass Transit
5 The Hong Kong Government have announced plans 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 (MIR) 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 in view of the general overheating of the Hong Kong economy.
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In addition to the LRV system (which would cost around £50 m) 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.
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The Public works Department and the Mass Transit Railway Corporation have been carrying out a detailed feasibility study on the plan. In the meantime, CEC and Met Cam are keeping a close eye on developments.
Tuen Mun Light Railway
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The Hong Kong Government has asked the Kowloon Wharf and Godown Company Ltd (which owns Hong Kong Tramways Ltd) to build and operate a 25 km trun network based on the new town of Tuen Mun in the extreme west of the New Territories.