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Transport

Railway Development Strategy

A consultancy study to review and update the Railway Development Strategy 2000 (RDS 2000) commenced in March 2011 for completion in 2013. It is comprehensively reviewing railway projects recommended in the RDS 2000 that have not yet been implemented, and studying other proposals considered or raised by the Government or the public. The study findings will help formulate Hong Kong's long term railway development blueprint.

Road Projects under Construction

Major road projects under construction include:

• A Central-Wan Chai Bypass (CWB) and Island Eastern Corridor Link forming part of the east-west strategic route along the north shore of Hong Kong Island, to alleviate traffic congestion at Connaught Road Central/Harcourt Road/Gloucester Road and cater for the anticipated growth in road traffic. The CWB is a 4.5-kilometre-long dual three-lane trunk road with a 3.7-kilometre-long tunnel. Construction commenced in December 2009 and on completion of the CWB in 2017, it will take about five minutes to travel from Central to the Island Eastern Corridor at North Point.

• Reconstruction of Tuen Mun Road to bring the expressway's dual three-lane carriageway up to current standards, and to provide hard shoulder lanes wherever possible. The project is scheduled for completion by 2014 while widening works of the Tuen Mun Road Town Centre section are scheduled for completion by the end of 2013.

• Widening of Tolo Highway between the Island House Interchange and Tai Hang to upgrade the existing dual three-lane carriageway to a dual four-lane carriageway. Construction of the section between the Island House Interchange and Ma Wo commenced in August 2009 for completion in 2013, while construction of the section between Ma Wo and Tai Hang commenced in February 2010 for completion by early 2014.

• Bus-Bus Interchanges (BBIs) on Tuen Mun Road involving construction, begun in July 2010, of two BBIs, one for Tuen Mun bound buses (due for completion by mid-2013) and the other for Kowloon-bound buses plying Tuen Mun Road (opened in December 2012).

• Works in respect of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge (HZMB), including the Main Bridge within Mainland waters and local works in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), continued. The target is to commission the HZMB in 2016.

• Reclamation works for the HZMB Hong Kong Boundary Crossing Facilities (HKBCF) and the Tuen Mun-Chek Lap Kok Link (TM-CLKL) southern landfall, an artificial island of about 150 hectares in the northeast waters of the Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA), continued in 2012. The works are expected to be completed in 2016 to dovetail with the commissioning of the HZMB.

• The Hong Kong Link Road, a 12-kilometre-long dual three-lane highway comprising sections of sea viaduct, tunnel and at-grade road, will connect the HZMB Main Bridge to

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