ALTERNATIVE 2-PRONE, ROAD+RAIL APPROACH CHEK LAP KOK AIRPORT
ΤΟ
(2)
Ideally, a simple solution should be sought to cater for the following :-
(a)
the planning must be safer - CLK AIRPORT and LANTAU are too important to rely on just one single long bridge for access.
(3)
(b)
(c)
(d)
(e)
(f)
the access must be effective and the terminals more convenient, with direct non-stop trains from Dat.
we must also consider the
the fare charges must be reasonable thousands of airport workers who will also need to use the rail link.
the implementation must be done with minimum interference to the public -- uprooting the whole of Western Kowloon is not the optimal solution.
the routing should be designed so that it can be implemented early to ensure not only the future airport traffic can use it even the construction traffic can get to use it.
What is more, opportunity should be taken now to devise solutions which will not only give CLK AIRPORT adequate access but also at the same time improve Hong Kong, Kowloon and the New Territories' overall transport net work, its links with Lantau for very little additional or even without extra cost.
Are there alternative and more cost-effective solutions than the complicated routing offered by PADS? The answer is a resounding YES to all these criterions. A more comprehensive but very cost-effective solution, as we see it, can be implemented as follows:- (see Plan no. 4 & 5).
(A) THE NORTHERN APPROACH
(1)
Build the 850m SHAM-MA BRIDGE as a ROAD + RAIL link immediately. This can be completed within 36 months with ease. The savings in time and cost as a result of offering land access to the building of CLK AIRPORT will more than justified the HK$1,500M spent on this bridge.
Build and widen the TSUEN WAN BY-PASS EXTENSION from Kwai Chung to the SHAM-MA BRIDGE. The costs can be reduced if the existing Route 2 be used as one-way eastward and the new EXTENSION one way westward. (see Plan No. 6 & 7).
Extend the TSUEN WAN LINE MTR westward to connect with the SHAM- MA BRIDGE so that Kowloon residents can travel by MTR to the CLK AIRPORT. The MTR runs on tracks underneath the TSUEN WAN BY-
PASS EXTENSION.
(4) Improve road link between Cheung Sha Wan + Kwai Chung by building a short by pass seaward of Mei Foo. This is also needed by the PADS proposal, anyway.
(B) THE APPROACHES THROUGH
HONG KONG AND KOWLOON
THE HARBOUR
AREAS OF
We believe that opportunity should be taken now to devise a strategy whereby not only convenient access to CLK AIRPORT will be offered but the traffic problems of the dense urban areas will benefit as well at an economical price where the public can afford. This can be done by the following measures :-
(1)
There is no need to build a parallel MTR on the new reclamation to relieve the Nathan Road MTR congestion there is already one electrified train system existed parallel to the MTR since 1981, called the KCR. But because KCR terminates at Hung Hom with no other rail linkages, most of its passengers are dumped into the MTR system at Kowloon Tong. Therefore if another MTR (called say the HUNG HOM LINE) is built between Hung Hom, via Tsimshatsui East, Nathan Road (connecting with MTR) across the harbour to Central, as was proposed in the original mass transit planning, KCR can be the instant parallel line. This line can also be extended to Hung Hom/Ma Tau Mai area (and later on to the Kai Tak/Kowloon Bay area when Kai Tak is redeveloped in the 21st Century). The cost of this line would be no more expensive than the MTR line proposed in the PADS across Hong Kong harbour but the additional benefits would more than justify additional expenditure, if any because Tsim Sha Tsui East, Hung Hom and KCR users from the New Territories will all benefit from it.
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STAAN MAZINION GALLAQINCIS
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