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WEDNESDAY, JUNE 1, 1988
THE KOWLOON-CANTON RAILWAY CORPORATION CARRIED OUT A CONSULTANT STUDY ON THE POSSIBLE RAIL LINKS BETWEEN THE NORTHWEST NEW TERRITORIES AND THE URBAN AREA AND SUBMITTED THE REPORT TO THE GOVERNMENT IN MARCH LAST YEAR.
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IN ITS SUBMISSION, THE CORPORATION HAD INDICATED THAT NONE THE THREE LINKS EXAMINED, NAMELY TUEN MUN TO TSUEN WAN, YUEN LONG ΤΟ TSUEN WAN, AND YUEN LONG TO TAI WO (IN TAI PO), WAS VIABLE ON A STAND- ALONE BASIS.
HE SAID IT WAS ONLY WHEN THE LIKELY ENHANCEMENT TO THE HEAVY AND LIGHT RAIL SYSTEMS WERE TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT THAT THE YUEN LONG ΤΟ TAI WO LINK WOULD BE A VIABLE OPTION, ADDING AS IT MIGHT MORE THAN 50,000 PASSENGERS TO THE SYSTEM PER DAY IN THE MID-1990'S.
THE CORPORATION IIAD ALSO RECOGNISED THAT THERE WERE MANY FACTORS WHICH COULD AFFECT THE FINAL CHOICE OF A RAIL LINK AND HAD STRESSED THAT IT HAD NOT ELIMINATED FURTHER CONSIDERATION OF ALTERNATIVE ROUTES.
MR LEUNG SAID: "GIVEN THAT THE CORPORATION'S STUDY CONCLUSIONS ARE BASED MAINLY ON THE ENGINEERING AND FINANCIAL VIABILITY OF THE VARIOUS LINKS, GOVERNMENT HAS TO CONSIDER THE ALTERNATIVES PROPOSED IN THE LIGHT OF OVERALL TRANSPORT INFRASTRUCTURE AND DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY, AS EXPLAINED IN APRIL 1987 TO THE CORPORATION.
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EVALUATION IS NOW BEING DONE IN THE CONTEXT OF THE SECOND COMPREHENSIVE TRANSPORT STUDY WHICH EXAMINES ALL RELEVANT FACTORS, INCLUDING THE PRESENT AND FUTURE TRAVEL PATTERNS, BENEFITS ΤΟ THE COMMUNITY, DISTRIBUTION OF EXISTING DEVELOPMENT, THE POTENTIAL FOR DEVELOPMENT ALONG VARIOUS ALIGNMENTS, THE STRATEGIC TRANSPORT NETWORK AND RELATED SOCIAL ASPECTS.
"PROGRESS HAS BEEN SATISFACTORY SO FAR AND WE HOPE TO RECEIVE PRELIMINARY RESULTS IN AUGUST THIS YEAR.
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