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The peak-hour capacity of this line would be 60,000 which is far in excess of predicted total demand for all modes, and would have two possible outcomes: (i) there would hardly be any passengers left for buses and ferries (in which case, what would happen to the vehicles and vessels currently in use?) or (ii) the I. L. would have very few passengers because of its higher fare levels than on the buses and would therefore require financial subsidies each year from the Government.
4.4 We understand the Island Line MTR construction costs would
be in the order of several billion whilst Government is already totally committed to the construction of the parallel Island Eastern Corridor highway, which is expected to cost something in the region of $700 million. A fleet of 350 ultra-high capacity double deck buses would cost CMB $303 million. However, CMB plans to buy buses of at least 120- capacity in future years so the cost of the bus strategy is really concerned with the incremental cost of 180-passenger buses compared to 120-passenger buses. This incremental cost is $200,000 per bus so the cost of buses for the plan is (350 x $200,000) = $70 million, spread over the next 5 years at an average of $14 million per year.
4.5 A modernised tramway system would cost $500 million, thus the
total cost of a bus/tram option including the Island Eastern Corridor highway would be $1,270 million.
4.6 CMB does not intend waiting until 1985 before acquiring the 180-passenger buses. The first four of these buses have already been ordered for 1981 delivery and the Company intends to include the large scale purchase of this new high-capacity bus in deliveries from 1982 onwards so that by 1985 our projected fleet requirement of 350 such high-capacity buses could be fully achieved by the time the Eastern Corridor highway is complete.
4.7 It is likely that the highway will have been constructed between Causeway Bay and Taikoo Shing by 1985 and as far as Shaukiwan
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