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The following is the speech by the Chief Executive, Mr Tung Chee Hwa, at the Airport Railway Completion Ceremony today (Sunday):
Mr So, Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen,
It gives me great pleasure to officiate at the completion ceremony of the Airport Railway.
Completed in four years, the Airport Railway has proved yet again that Hong Kong remains a fast moving city with a well-proven track record of fulfilling our promises. Few cities in the world can top our record in delivering major works project so quickly and so well. Talented designers and engineers and hardworking contractors in Hong Kong have put their best efforts and expertise into this project. We can proudly say this is the city where plans and vision are realised and it is a tradition we will work hard to keep.
The completion of the Airport Railway also turns a new leaf in our history of railway development. This is the first new railway line which we have built after the completion of the MTR network in the urban area. It is yet another example of how major transport infrastructure can provide safe, reliable and fast service to our community and to our visitors. It is also a sign of new good things to come. For we have committed to building three railway projects in the next five years. What achievements we can see at this time in the Airport Railway serving passengers between home and work and between Airport and in-town terminal, we will see these three railways repeating in the next five years, only serving an even wider area.
These three projects will cost about $110 billion and they represent an investment in our future. They will also provide over 33,000 jobs in the five year period. They will create more land and bring safe and fast transport to strategic growth areas with a total population of about 1.8 million people. So they are certainly and clearly important projects in their own right.
But we hope this is only the beginning. The Government believes that we should invest even more on railways. For this reason we are now studying what we need in terms of a comprehensive railway network to serve Hong Kong's needs. We expect the study to provide us early next year with suggestions on the next batch of urgent railway projects. By the end of next year we will have a blueprint of the railway network which will serve Hong Kong well into the next millennium.
The railway system will be part of the backbone of Hong Kong efficient transport system. The Airport Railway, which we see completed today, exemplifies the standard which we can expect from our railway system - a modern, reliable, fast and safe service which Hong Kong can proudly present as part of us. I hope that visitors to Hong Kong will also see this as an illustration of our strength - reliability, efficiency, and above all, quality. These are all attributes which not only apply to the railway but also to our community.
The completion of the Airport Railway and the opening of Hong Kong's new International Airport in two weeks' time symbolises the confidence and vision of Hong Kong people in our future and demonstrates our determination as well as ability to turn that vision into a reality, using our own resources.
Ladies and gentlemen, let me take this opportunity to congratulate the Mass Transit Railway Corporation and all who have contributed to make the Airport Railway project such a huge success. Hong Kong people will be proud of you, as of the Railway itself.
End/Sunday, June 21, 1998
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