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LCQ13: Railway development plans
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     Following is a question by Dr Elizabeth Quat and a written reply by the Acting Secretary for Transport and Housing, Mr Yau Shing-mu, in the Legislative Council today (October 30):

Question:

     Quite a number of residents of New Territories East have complained to me that the train compartments of various railway lines are packed with passengers during both the rush hours and off-peak hours at night, and passengers thus often have to wait for a long time before they can board the train. They consider that the patronage of the existing railway has already reached its capacity, and they are worried that the overcrowding of train compartments will worsen upon the commissioning of the West Island Line and South Island Line (East) in 2014 and 2015 respectively. Regarding the expeditious implementation of the railway development plans for new railway lines to alleviate the crowdedness of train compartments, will the Government inform this Council:

(a) given that the Stage One and Stage Two of the Public Engagement Exercises in connection with the review and update of the Railway Development Strategy 2000 were completed in July 2012 and May 2013, of the schedule and details of the relevant follow-up work;

(b) given that the Government plans to give an account to the public of the way forward of the different railway projects within 2014 (i.e. more than one year after the completion of the public engagement exercises), of the reasons for the long time required for the relevant follow-up work, whether it has evaluated if such pace of work runs counter to public expectation, and whether it can give an account to the public at an earlier date; if it can, of the schedule; if not, the reasons for that; and

(c) whether it will consider giving an account to the public at an earlier date of the way forward of those new railway projects of a more pressing need; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?

Reply:

President,

     My consolidated reply to the three parts of Dr Elizabeth Quat's questions is as follows:

     Railway projects have profound impact on the society, people's livelihood and economic development. It often takes eight to ten years for a railway project to take shape from formulation of ideas, conceptual planning, consultation with stakeholders, detailed design, to actual construction and completion. We are now taking forward five new railway projects in full swing, namely, the West Island Line, South Island Line (East), Kwun Tong Line Extension, Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link and Shatin to Central Link. These projects are expected to be completed in succession between 2014 and 2020.

     To allow early planning for railway development beyond 2020, the Government has commissioned a consultant to conduct a study for the Review and Update of the Railway Development Strategy 2000, with a view to updating the long-term railway development blueprint for Hong Kong to cater for the latest development needs of the society. We conducted the Stage 1 Public Engagement exercise from April to July last year, with the focus on the conceptual proposals of three major regional railway corridors, and the Stage 2 Public Engagement exercise from February to May this year to explore the conceptual proposals of seven local enhancement schemes.

     The schemes proposed at the two stages are conceptual proposals which the consultant, upon preliminary study, considers worthy of public discussion. Projects that are of a more pressing need have been included. To be forward looking, we wish to engage the public in the discussion as early as possible and to map out the future railway development of Hong Kong together with the community.

     We collected over 10 000 comments during the two stages of Public Engagement exercise. While the focuses of the two stages are different, they are integrated as the basis for the planning for the overall development of the railway network in future. The consultant is collating the public comments holistically and refining the railway schemes in response to some requests from the public. With the use of transport models, the consultant is assessing the overall effectiveness and efficiency of the railway network and conducting further analysis on the more preferred proposals, so as to optimise the planning for the major regional railway corridors and local enhancement schemes in a co-ordinated manner.

     Railway development and town planning are closely related, involving comprehensive considerations. As such, the consultant has been in liaison with relevant Government departments in the course of the study to exchange the latest planning data for making reliable forecasts. The consultant will then submit its overall recommendations to the Government. We have been monitoring the whole study process to ensure the proper conduct of different parts of the study.

     The entire study is expected to be completed at the end of this year. The Government will consider the consultant's overall recommendations in formulating the blueprint for railway development beyond 2020, having regard to transport demand, cost-effectiveness and development needs of New Development Areas, as soon as possible. We will report to the public the way forward for the railway projects next year. When individual projects are taken forward in future, we will still need to carry out further study, including public consultation, on the projects.

     With a view to alleviating crowdedness on trains and reducing passengers' waiting time, the MTR Corporation Limited (MTRCL) added more than 1 200 train trips per week (that is, over 62 000 train trips per year) on busier railway lines vide the launching of the "ListeningĦEResponding" programme in 2012. This year, MTRCL further enhances train service on East Rail Line, Island Line, West Rail Line, Kwun Tong Line and Tsuen Wan Line, etc to meet the needs of passengers.

Ends/Wednesday, October 30, 2013
Issued at HKT 12:30

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