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Let me briefly re-cap the present position. What the Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation did last November was to submit their outline proposal for building the WCR. The Corporation now needs to carry out more detailed studies to provide the necessary information to support in-depth consideration by and discussion with the Administration, so that a project agreement can eventually be drawn up. Likewise, the Mass Transit Railway Corporation is in the process of finalising their recommendations for building the Tseung Kwan O extension. We expect to commence dialogue with the MTRC within the next 2 months. Separately, the engineering feasibility study on the third priority is expected to be completed by the end of this year. We shall then be in a better postition to determine how best to take this project forward.
All these 3 priority projects present enormous engineering, legal, land, environmental and financial dimensions which will require detailed scrutiny and, in fact, much of 1996 will be taken up in examining these complex issues. This has been envisaged and included in the overall timetable. The Administration will also be drawing up the legislative framework and deciding how best to tackle the land resumption problem. However, this does not mean that the 2 railway corporations have to sit back and wait. There is plenty of preparatory work they can and need to undertake in tandem.
Some Members are concerned that apart from the $15 million that has been earmarked in the estimates for the provision of additional staff to handle the planning work involved the Administration has not provided any equity injection for the 3 railway projects. funding now will be premature since we have yet to agree on the final alignment, costs and financial parameters. But what is important and significant, is that the Financial Secretary has put down a specific marker in his budget speech, recognising the need for Government funding. Let me quote him. "One of the probable calls on these funds will be the need for capital injections into the KCRC and perhaps the MTRC towards the cost of the priority railway development projects. At the present time, the precise cost, timing and mode of financing of these projects are uncertain."
One final point on railways. We have kept the Chinese authorities up-to-date on the present state of play on these 3 projects, as is the requirement for all major projects straddling 1997, we shall need to consult them before firm decisions are
taken.
Mr Deputy President, let me now deal with the other common points raised by Honourable Members. These relate to traffic management in general and Electronic Road Pricing and the parking problem in particular. These subjects have been discussed at recent meetings of the LegCo Transport Panel and, whilst I look forward to further exchanges of views in that forum, I would nonetheless like to provide a brief response now.