23 December 1993
Foreign & Commonwealth
Office
London SWIA 2AH
The Rt Hon Lord Prior
Chairman
The General Electric Company plc 1 Stanhope Gate
London
W1A 1EH
From The Minister of State
Der fin
Following our meeting yesterday, I copied to the Governor your letter of 15 December to Li Ka Shing concerning the proposed Cheung Ma railway.
The Hong Kong Government have confirmed that you are correct in identifying the Western Corridor and the MTR extension to Tseung Kwan O as the likely public sector priorities. Longer term projections identify the possible need for a railway from Ma On Shan to the Metropolitan area (as proposed by Cheung Kong, although not quite on the same alignment). But this would probably have a much lower priority. It might be considered suitable for development by the private sector.
As part of its work on the Railway Development Study, the Hong Kong Government have analysed the Cheung Ma railway and other alternatives for serving the same area and have given their preliminary conclusions to Cheung Kong in writing during meetings and at a lunch between the Secretary of Transport and Mr Li Ka Shing. Cheung Kong should now have a thorough understanding of the Hong Kong Government's position.
I understand that the Hong Kong Government are awaiting a response from the company on a number of issues, these include:
- The transport merits of the proposed railway and the rationale for alignment and selection of a light rail system;
- The financial viability of the proposed railway and the extent to which this is dependent on granting of the land for property development;