ENG-2005 — Page 303

Transport | 257

Railway Projects

The East Rail extensions, which involve three rail projects, expand the existing East Rail to reach East Tsim Sha Tsui, Ma On Shan and Lok Ma Chau. The 1.1-kilometre East Rail Tsim Sha Tsui Extension connects the MTR Tsim Sha Tsui Station with a new KCR East Tsim Sha Tsui Station via an extended subway system enabling passengers to interchange between lines. The second extension, the 11.4-kilometre Ma On Shan Rail, serves the Sha Tin and Ma On Shan areas and has stations at Wu Kai Sha, Ma On Shan, Heng On, Tai Shui Hang, Shek Mun, City One, Sha Tin Wai, Che Kung Temple and Tai Wai, where passengers can interchange with East Rail. The third extension, the 7.4-kilometre Spur Line, aims to provide a second rail link to the Mainland to relieve cross-boundary congestion at Lo Wu, which handles in excess of 85 million passengers. The Spur Line is under construction and is planned to start operation in 2007.

The 3.5-kilometre Disneyland Resort Line operates as a single-track railway providing a shuttle service between a new MTR station at Hong Kong Disneyland and a new MTR station at Sunny Bay where passengers can interchange with the existing Tung Chung Line. The rail line was opened in August to serve Hong Kong Disneyland.

The 3.8-kilometre Kowloon Southern Link now under construction will connect East Rail and West Rail at the southern tip of the Kowloon Peninsula. On completion, passengers will be able to switch from East Rail to West Rail and vice versa at Hung Hom.

Railway Projects at the Planning Stage

The Northern Link will connect West Rail at Kam Sheung Road to the boundary crossing point at Lok Ma Chau and, in conjunction with the Spur Line, will form a strategic corridor connecting West Rail and East Rail. The Express Rail Link will provide an express rail service to link up the urban area with the boundary. The link is expected to reduce the journey time by rail between Guangzhou and Hong Kong from the existing 100 minutes to about an hour. It will link Hong Kong with Beijing and other major Mainland cities via the Beijing-Guangzhou Passenger Line and Hangzhou-Fuzhou-Shenzhen Passenger Line, two new lines planned for the future. It will also connect Hong Kong to cities in the Pearl River Delta and Pan-Pearl River Delta via the Rapid Transit System now under development on the Mainland. The Mainland section of the Express Rail Link opened on December 18. The KCRC submitted a feasibility report on the Hong Kong section of the link to the Government in July.

The West Island Line will be an extension of the existing MTR Island Line from Sheung Wan to Kennedy Town with two intermediate stations at Sai Ying Pun and University. The latest proposed scheme of the South Island Line consists of two medium-capacity rail lines, one from University to Wong Chuk Hang with intermediate stations at Cyberport, Wah Fu and Aberdeen, and the other from Admiralty to South Horizons with intermediate stations at Ocean Park, Wong Chuk Hang and Lei Tung.