LCQ2: Proposed Mei Foo Station of West Rail

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The following is a question by the Hon Ambrose Cheung Wing-sum and a reply by the Secretary for Transport, Mr Nicholas Ng, in the Legislative Council today (Wednesday):

Question:

It is learnt that the government proposes to build the Mei Foo Station of West Rail in the Lai Chi Kok Park with the high profile construction method. The park was built after the completion of Container Terminals 5, 6 and 7 as undertaken by the Government upon its consultation with residents of the Mei Foo Sun Chuen. It serves as a buffer zone between residential premises and the infrastructural facilities concerned in the area and provides sports and recreational amenities as well. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a) why it proposes to build the Mei Foo Station of West Rail in the Lai Chi Kok Park; whether it has studied if alternative sites (such as the site to the east of the KMB's Lai Chi Kok Depot) are available;

(b) whether it has assessed the adverse impact of such a proposal on the Government's credibility in decision-making, and on the living environment as well as sports and recreational amenities of the area; if so, what the details are; if not, why not;

(c) whether reclaimed land has been reserved in West Kowloon for the construction of railway when the alignment and works of West Rail were planned; if not, why not;

(d) why it does not use the low profile construction method to build the West Rail station, in view of the fact that the residents in the area strongly opposed to the high profile construction method; and

(e) why it has refused the request of residents that financial assistance should be provided to them so that they could hire an independent consultant to assess the information supplied by the Government on the sitting and construction works of the West Rail station?

Reply:

Madam President,

I am pleased to have the opportunity this afternoon to explain to Members the planning of the Mei Foo Station of the West Rail, which has been the subject of much concern to Mei Foo residents. The question posed by the Hon. Ambrose Cheung is a multi-barrelled one involving a large number of issues. In order to address all the relevant issues adequately, my answer today will be longer than usual. Due to the rather complex nature and background of the issues involved, it would be helpful if I could first give Members some information about the history of the planning of the West Rail vis-a-vis other infrastructural facilities in the area.

Background of the 150-metre buffer zone

The need of the West Rail project and its conceptual alignment were first established in the first Railway Development Study (RDS-1) which was completed in March 1993. Due to the highly congested environment of Hong Kong, it was inevitable that there were a number of constraints to the development of the West Rail alignment. As regards the Mei Foo Sun Chuen area, the Airport Railway (AR) and the West Kowloon Expressway (WKE) were two such constraints. These two infrastructure projects were part of the Port and Airport Development Strategy (PADS) projects, which were already in the final stage of planning in the early 1990s. The alignments of both the AR and the WKE had been finalised around mid 1991, and the relevant road scheme of the WKE had already been authorized by the Executive Council in December 1992. Therefore the planning of West Rail simply had to take both the AR and WKE as given constraints.

Given these constraints, the RDS-1 concluded that if the West Rail were to terminate in West Kowloon, it inevitably had to route through the then proposed Lai Chi Kok Park. In order to reduce the impact that this would have on the Park, RDS-1 recommended that the railway should be enclosed in box structures in a landscaped hill.

As part of the effort to reduce the noise and other environmental nuisances emanating from the WKE or the reclamation for the Container terminals, in 1985 the Government designated a piece of land measuring 150 metres in width in front of the Mei Foo Sun Chuen to act as buffer zone alongside the expressway. The Government reaffirmed the role of this buffer zone in 1992. It has been suggested by some objectors to the West Rail scheme that the Government, by constructing the West Rail Mei Foo Station underneath the Lai Chi Kok Park, has violated its pledge to provide the 150-metre buffer zone. This is not so. I have tabled for Members's reference a drawing and an area photograph which show the relationship between the buffer zone and the West rail scheme. In particular, I would like to invite Members to note that :-

* The proposed West Rail Mei Foo Station will not be located within the 150 metres buffer zone;

* A section of the railway will indeed be within the boundary of the buffer zone. However, it will be fully enclosed within a box structure covered by earth mound with proper landscaping on top. As such, no noise or other environmental nuisances will be generated; and

* The earth mound covering the railway will blend into the existing topography of the Park and will be designed by landscape experts, in consultation with the local residents, to ensure that the final product is pleasing and will integrate with the Lai Chi Kok Park.

That being the case, Madam President, there is simply no question of the Government not retaining the buffer zone. On the contrary, it is with the need to reduce noise and environmental nuisances firmly in mind that the more costly earth mound box structure for the West Rail was proposed.

Location of the Mei Foo Station

Let me now turn to the more specific questions posed by the Hon. Ambrose Cheung relating to the location, design and consultation process regarding the proposed Mei Foo Station.

The West Rail was one of the priority projects recommended for early implementation. KCRC is the builder and operator of the railway and was asked in December 1996 to carry out studies on the implementation of the 30.5 km long electrified double-track railway system connecting West Kowloon with Northwest New Territories. KCRC has since undertaken a series of technical studies to determine the railway alignment and the land take requirements. It has also undertaken the relevant Traffic Impact Assessment, Environmental Impact Assessment and Drainage Impact Assessment. At the same time, the Government has also commissioned an independent consultant to assess critically KCRC's studies in order to provide the Government with an informed second opinion on the highly technical and complex studies involved.

Location of the Mei Foo Station - Lai Chi Kok Park versus other locations

It is strategically important in railway network development terms that the West Rail be connected to other existing railways such as the MTR Tsuen Wan Line (TWL). The railway scheme of the West Rail proposed by KCRC includes nine stations, of which Mei Foo is one. The Mei Foo Station is proposed to be located in part of the Lai Chi Kok Park. This location was chosen after a number of options had been carefully explored. It will enable the provision of a convenient interchange with the TWL at its Mei Foo Station. A maximum flow of 24,000 passengers per hour is estimated to interchange between the two railway systems during morning peak periods. In addition, this is the only location where all the alignment design criteria can be met, and an efficient and constructible station scheme can be developed.

As I have mentioned earlier, KCRC has also explored the feasibility of other locations. These include:

(a) a station at Kwai Fong;

(b) a station located between Lai Wan and Lai Chi Kok Highway - separate concourse arrangement;

(d) a station at the Kowloon Motor Bus Depot in Lai Chi Kok; and

(e) a station to the east of the Kowloon Motor Bus Depot in Lai Chi Kok;

The Kwai Fong option was not acceptable because it would produce inefficient interchange with TWL and unsatisfactory station layout. In addition, the existing Kwai Fuk Road which is a heavily used road would need to be excavated. Very large and deep excavation would be involved resulting in great engineering difficulties and a prolonged construction period with all the adverse impact on the local environment.

The options at the Kowloon Motor Bus Depot and that located between Lai Wan and Lai Chi Kok Highway were not acceptable because they would require the railway to follow a very tight curve due to the sharp bend and this will not meet acceptable railway design standards.

The option to the east of the Kowloon Motor Bus Depot was also considered unsuitable due to the constraints imposed by the existing MTR TWL at this location. The West Rail would have to cross under the MTR at a level as deep as 40 metres below ground (equivalent to some 12 storeys) and this would greatly impair the interchange function of the station and the operation of the railway. Further, the requirement for very deep excavation is a high risk task which could induce unacceptable ground settlement and seriously affect the safe operation of the Airport Railway in close proximity.

Both KCRC and the Government's independent consultant have concluded that the Lai Chi Kok Park is the most appropriate location for the West Rail Mei Foo Station.

Design of the Station - High-profile Option versus Low-profile Option

I will now turn to the issue of the design options for the station. KCRC has examined a couple of design options in order to evaluate the safety, engineering, transport efficiency, operational and community aspects of the future station. The design of the station at this location presents a number of engineering challenges. It is constrained by structures of existing facilities, including the Kwai Chung Road Flyover, the MTR tunnel and the Lai Chi Kok drainage culvert. The two design options examined by KCRC are the so-called "high-profile" option and the "low-profile" option. Both options will result in part of the station building rising above the existing ground level. The high-profile option will rise 12 metres above ground level while the low-profile option 3 metres. Although the low-profile option will have less impact in terms of visual intrusion and land uses for the Park, studies conducted by KCRC and vetted by the Government's independent consultant confirmed that this option should not be adopted. This is mainly due to the very high engineering risks associated with its construction and the potential damage to the nearby infrastructures. Having considered the KCRC proposal and the advice of the independent consultant carefully, the Administration is of the view that the risks associated with the low-profile option are too high to be considered as an acceptable option and that it should not be pursued. Madam President, please allow me to elaborate on the rationale in greater details as the subject is of much contention among Mei Foo residents.

Low-profile option - unacceptable due to high risks involved

We have made a conscious decision not to adopt the low profile option for a number of reasons. They include :-

(a) The foundations of the Kwai Chung Road Flyover would have to be underpinned at high engineering risk. This would probably require closure of the Flyover, which is the main traffic artery in this part of West Kowloon;

(b) The West Rail Station would be sitting over the MTR running tunnel and would come within its 3-metre protection zone, thereby incurring great risk to the operation of the TWL during the construction of West Rail;

(c) The West Rail would have to pass under the Lai Chi Kok culvert which is the main drainage carrier in that area. This would require under-pinning the culvert which would be very difficult due to its size and the fact that it is underground. Alternatively, we would need to divert the culvert temporarily by opening it up, but this would lead to unacceptable environmental problems; and

(d) The construction period of the low profile option would be 15 months longer than that of the high profile option, thereby prolonging the construction impact on residents.

Costing nearly $1 billion more than the high-profile option and suffering from the above mentioned drawbacks, the low-profile option is however considered to be visually less intrusive by Mei Foo residents. This, Madam President, will take me to the environmental issues involved with the high-profile option.

High-profile Option - Environment Impact on the Park and Residents

The Administration recommended to adopt, for gazetting purpose, the high-profile option which involves much less engineering risks and does not have the drawbacks suffered by the low-profile option. However, we do recognise that the high-profile option will have adverse impact on the Lai Chi Kok Park facilities and on certain residential units of the Mei Foo Sun Chuen. As a result of protracted consultation with the Provisional Urban Council (PUC), the Sham Shui Po Provisional District Board and affected residents in no fewer than 60 meetings/presentations in the last three years, KCRC has made a number of refinements to the scheme in order to address the relevant concern. These include "terracing" the earth-mounded station in order to maximise the area of flat park land. Under the 'terraced' design, only about 0.7 hectare of the total 17.5 hectares of the Park area will be permanently lost to the Station. As a gesture of good will, KCRC has also agreed to pay the PUC an ex-gratia benefit of $10 million for loss of flat land and has undertaken to reprovision all affected park facilities.

Measures to Address Environmental Problems

As an integral part of its studies on the West Rail project, KCRC has conducted a comprehensive Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for the scheme. The EIA concluded that with appropriate mitigation measures, environmental impacts during the construction period and operation stage could be kept within statutory requirements and standards of the Environmental Protection Department. The Advisory Council on the Environment has also endorsed these findings.

Although entirely unrelated to the West Rail (Phase I) and not a requirement in the EIA, KCRC has also undertaken to provide the residents living near the Kwai Chung Road Flyover with noise abatement facilities such as double-glazing of windows to mitigate the noise emanating from the Flyover.

Both the Administration and KCRC have made every effort to address the concerns of the Mei Foo residents. In this respect, the scheme has been revised as far as practicable. For instance, the design of the pedestrian link between the West Rail Mei Foo Station and the existing Mei Foo Station has been refined, resulting in a smaller raising of the ground in Mount Sterling Mount, thereby reducing the impact on the shops in the vicinity.

I can assure Members that during construction, KCRC will ensure that all environmental standards will be strictly adhered to, and will put in place a monitoring mechanism involving the local residents. KCRC will set up a community liaison office to provide prompt response to concerns and enquiries from residents and to offer assistance where necessary.

Funding of another Independent Consultant

As regards the request by some residents that Government should employ an independent consultant on the residents' behalf to vet KCRC's proposal, we have explained to them that KCRC's proposal has been considered carefully by various parties. KCRC first engaged a consultant to formulate the initial proposal which was examined and refined by the Corporation before submission to Government. Taking into account the concerns and suggestions received during consultation, KCRC undertook further studies to develop its design. In the course of developing the design, KCRC's proposal was subject to further examination and refinement by Government departments. In addition, Government engaged an independent consultant to form and advise Government of an independent view of the proposal submitted by KCRC. No fewer than 30 design reports on findings related to the Station design by KCRC had been vetted by the independent consultant. It is therefore considered not justifiable to spend public money to engage a further independent consultant to vet the proposal already vetted by an independent consultant. Indeed, all the views of the objectors to the railway scheme will be submitted to the ExCo for consideration before the scheme can be authorised.

The implementation of the high priority railways is essential to sustain Hong Kong's continued economic and social development. The West Rail is needed to meet the transportation needs of the Northwest New Territories, which will have a total population of 1.4 million by the year 2011. The project will create 13,000 job opportunities in the next few years. The West Rail is under a very tight implementation programme to meet the target completion date of 2003. The project is scheduled to commence construction later this year, subject to the ExCo's authorisation of the railway scheme.

Madam President, I apologize for the length of this reply. However, given the complexity of the issues which are of great public interest, the questions deserve a comprehensive response. Otherwise, I will not be doing justice to all those who have helped improve the scheme, including members of the relevant Provisional District Board and the Provisional Urban Council and this Council.

End/Wednesday, September 9, 1998

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