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Following is a question by the Hon Frederick Fung and a written reply by the Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works, Dr Sarah Liao, at the Legislative Council meeting today (March 14) :
Question:
The Shatin to Central Link (SCL) was originally scheduled for completion by 2011. However, since the project was awarded to the Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation (KCRC), the construction date for SCL has still not yet been set. In introducing the Rail Merger Bill last year, the Government indicated that it would discuss with the MTR Corporation Limited (MTRCL) the funding and implementation details of SCL. Moreover, the Government has recently said that it will study the possibility of implementing SCL in phases, but has not reached a final decision regarding phased implementation. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the total amount of resources allocated by the Government and KCRC for the planning and study of the construction of SCL since KCRC's participation in bidding for the project, why the construction date for SCL has not yet been set, whether the Government has taken into account the expectations of the residents along the proposed alignment of SCL in considering when to construct SCL, whether the Government has assessed if the lack of a construction date for SCL will result in a waste of resources, is a breach of its promise to complete SCL by 2011, and will affect the Government's credibility in honouring contractual obligations; if such an assessment has been made; of the results; if not, the reasons for that;
(b) given that it has been reported that the Government has promised that the rail merger will not affect the construction of SCL, whether it has assessed if the implementation of SCL in phases is a breach of such promise, and of the MTRCL's position regarding the implementation of SCL in phases; and
(c) of the latest financing arrangements for the construction of SCL, the latest development in the Government's negotiations with MTRCL regarding SCL, and the Government's position and specific principles in the negotiations concerning issues such as the financing arrangements?
Reply:
Madam President,
In June 2002, the Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation (KCRC) was invited to proceed with further planning of the Shatin to Central Link (SCL). Since then, the KCRC has submitted a number of proposed changes to the project. The objective is to co-ordinate with the latest progress of the development projects (like Kai Tak Planning Review and Wan Chan Development Phase II Review) along the alignment of the SCL and to respond to the public request to extend the rail service to more areas. However, as the details with these development projects have not yet been confirmed, thus the SCL proposal has yet to be finalised. The above changes were reported to the Subcommittee on Matters relating to Railways under the LegCo Transport Panel on February 16, 2004; June 3, 2004; March 4, 2005 and January 5, 2007. Generally speaking, during the planning process, Government has to review the planning of a railway project, including its implementation time frame, having regard to latest progress of those development projects that have impacts to the railway. However, this review should not be regarded as a breach of promise to "complete the project by a certain time frame".
As far as the rail merger is concerned, the Government has set the early resolution of interchange arrangements for new rail projects under planning, notably the SCL, and the abolition of the second boarding charge for interchanging passengers as one of the major parameters for the merger when Government invited the two railway corporations to commence discussion on a possible merger on February 24, 2004. Thereafter, the MTR Corporation Limited (MTRCL) and the KCRC have jointly submitted a proposal for the SCL which includes provision of fully integrated interchange stations under the rail merger.
When Government announced on April 11, 2006 that it had reached an understanding with the MTRCL on the structure and terms for merging the MTR and KCR rail systems, Government had clearly set out that the proposed SCL scheme, in the context of the rail merger, would provide for fully integrated interchange stations and interchanging passengers would not be required to pay any second boarding charge. As for financing new non-MTR natural extension railway projects, like the SCL, Government has the right to adopt "ownership" approach (the post-merger corporation would finance, construct, operate and own the project; and if necessary, Government will provide funding support) or "service concession" approach (the post-merger corporation will operate the railway under a service concession arrangement). We are still considering which approach will be the most suitable and the decision has yet to be made.
As for the alignment and technical aspects of the SCL, we are still assessing the proposals, in the light of the impacts from the Kai Tak Planning Review and Wan Chai Development Phase II Review based on the objective to meet the transport demand more effectively. Therefore, the proposal has yet to be finalised.
Ends/Wednesday, March 14, 2007
Issued at HKT 12:07
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