CONFIDENTIAL
8
067057
MDHIAN 6955
CONFIDENTIAL
FM HONG KONG
TO DESKBY 07123OZ F C O
TELNO 60
OF 07105OZ JANUARY 90
HKB 182 1 3
INFO IMMEDIATE PEKING, UKREP
TOP COPY Q DIST?
HONG KONG
Pa
L. སྔས་
PERSONAL FOR PAUL, HKD FROM GOVERNOR
YOUR TELNO 14: PADS
1.
THE NEW AIRPORT AND ITS RELATED PROJECTS ARE PROCEEDING GENERALLY AS PROGRAMMED. WITH THE ASSISTANCE OF OUR CONSULTANTS (BECHTEL), WE ARE NOW REVIEWING VARIOUS PROJECTS IN DETAIL TO DETERMINE MORE ACCURATELY HOW LONG THEY WILL TAKE AND WHEN THEY WILL BE COMPLETED. BY MARCH/APRIL WE SHOULD HAVE A CLEARER AND MORE PRECISE IDEA OF THE OVERALL PROGRAMME, INCLUDING WHETHER THE CURRENT TARGET COMPLETION DATE IS REALISTIC AND THE PHASING OF ITS VARIOUS COMPONENTS.
ADDITIONAL STUDIES ON THE AIRPORT RAILWAY HAVE NOW BEEN
COMPLETED. WE ARE CURRENTLY EXAMINING THREE OPTIONS:
2.
(A) THE ORIGINAL PROPOSAL OF OPERATING THE RAILWAY ON DAY
ONE.
(B)
(C)
A MODESTLY SCALED-DOWN VERSION OF THIS OPTION, WHEREBY
A LOWER COST INITIAL RAILWAY IS COMPLETED WHEN THE AIRPORT OPENS AND IS SUBSEQUENTLY UPGRADED TO A FULL-SCALE RAILWAY.
A DEFERRAL OPTION, WHEREBY THE COMMISSIONING OF THE RAILWAY IS DEFERRED TO 2002.
THERE IS NO TRUTH IN THE RUMOURS REACHING YOU THAT THE RAILWAY WILL BE DEFERRED FOR 15 YEARS OR EVEN ABANDONED.
3. WE CANNOT TAKE A FIRM DECISION ON THE AIRPORT RAILWAY YET, AS FURTHER WORK NEEDS TO BE DONE ON EXAMINING THESE OPTIONS. WE ARE PLANNING TO SEEK EXCO'S ADVICE IN FEBRUARY. WE WILL BRIEF THE CHINESE ON OUR CURRENT THINKING AT THE SECOND ROUND OF EXPORT
TALKS.
1
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