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Chapter 13

Transport

Public transport in Hong Kong is fast, safe, convenient and affordable and 90 per cent of the 11 million commuter trips made every day are on public buses, trains and trams. The city also has one of the safest road networks in the world, with the number of fatal accidents in 2005 falling to 139, the lowest in the past 47 years.

With a growing population and continuous development, moving people and goods around Hong Kong has always been a great challenge, and it is made greater by the Government's commitment to sustainable development. The Government responds by ensuring that, as it plans, expands and improves the transport infrastructure, it places a particular emphasis on railways and promotes and encourages the use of public transport by maintaining quality and improving coordination. It also manages road use to reduce congestion and promote safety, and continues to support environmental improvement measures in transport-related

areas.

There were significant achievements in railway development in 2005. The Disneyland Resort Line of the Mass Transit Railway Corporation Limited (MTRCL) was completed and opened in August 2005 to serve Hong Kong Disneyland. Meanwhile, construction of the Sheung Shui to Lok Ma Chau Spur Line (the Spur Line), which will help meet the growing demand from cross-boundary passengers and ease congestion at Lo Wu, continued throughout the year. The new line is scheduled to be completed by 2007. Construction of the Kowloon Southern Link, which will connect East Rail with West Rail at the southern tip of the Kowloon Peninsula, started in September and will go into operation in 2009.

Several other railway projects are in the planning stage. The Sha Tin to Central Link will extend East Rail across the harbour to Central and West Rail to Ma On Shan. The Government is examining the scheme for the link which is included in the report jointly submitted by the Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation (KCRC) and the MTRCL on a possible merger. The MTRCL also submitted a project proposal for the West Island Line in February and the Government invited it to proceed with the preliminary planning and design of the project in June. The Government is, in