TNAG-0563-FCO40-658-Construction-of-an-underground-railway-system-in-Hong-Kong-1975 — Page 129

3.6

3.7

3.8

Also, a much cheaper version of Diamond Hill Station has been designed by deferring the provision of an underpass for any future East Kowloon line until this line is built. Similarly, it is con- sidered that two stations in Central can handle the reduced volume of traffic to and from the Island contemplated under the minimum system, and the construction of Western Market and Pedder Stations is therefore not necessary at this stage.

These proposals are the essence of the modified initial system approved by the Provisional Authority at its December meeting for the purpose of further refinement. Since then, a detailed re-examination of the proposed modified system has been carried out, and it has been found possible to reduce further the estimated cost by an additional 10% from $5,199M to $4,664M at 1974 values. The estimated total cost of the system after allowing for escalation is thus reduced from $6,488M to $5,850M.

These savings have been made possible by:-

(a)

(b)

(c)

(a)

Restricting work in Nathan Road and other areas of the system to that strictly necessary for the modified system, including deferring the fitting out of the lower levels of Argyle and Waterloo stations not required until later stages are built.

Deferring the order of rolling stock required for the initial system but not necessary for the modified system.

Using the bored tunnel rather than the cut and cover method of construction in Upper Nathan Road and Central, with the added advantage of considerably less disruption to the public.

Deferring but making provision for the link with the Kowloon/Canton Railway.

(e) Deferring the provision of a number of station

entrances.

3.9

Despite these modifications, the resulting system effectively connects Central with the Kowloon Peninsula, and the Eastern Kowloon area to Kwun Tong. It does therefore provide a rapid mass transport facility which is attractive, safe and reliable, covering the areas of dense population most likely to cause serious trans- portation difficulties in the future.