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The Government today (March 20) gazetted the Chief Executive in Council's authorisation of the MTR West Island Line (WIL) under the Railways Ordinance.
Implementation of the WIL, which is the first of several railway projects under active planning, will create 2,500 jobs during construction in the next few years and another 2,500 jobs during the operation stage.
The WIL will involve the extension of the existing MTR Island Line from Sheung Wan to Kennedy Town with two intermediate stations at Sai Ying Pun and the University of Hong Kong. It will provide a fast, convenient and reliable means of public transport between Sheung Wan and Kennedy Town, and will enable residents in the Western District to have direct access to the MTR service, saving time for interchange from road transport to the railway network.
A government spokesman said, ˇ§With the WIL, a journey for the three kilometres from Kennedy Town to Sheung Wan, which normally takes 15 to 25 minutes by road during rush hours, could be slashed to less than eight minutes. It will take only 14 minutes from Kennedy Town to Tsim Sha Tsui. The economic benefits including time saving over 40 years of the operation of the WIL is estimated to be about $44 billion at 2006 prices after netting the operation costs.ˇ¨
ˇ§As the stations at Sai Ying Pun and near the University of Hong Kong are deep underground, fast and high capacity lifts will be provided to convey passengers to and from the station concourses to the Western Mid-level areas.
These high capacity lifts and the passageway through the unpaid zones within the stations will become convenient pedestrian passages between the Western Mid-levels and Des Voeux Road West areas. It will help reduce road traffic and will have a positive effect on air quality in the area,ˇ¨ the spokesman said.
As an additional traffic route reducing travelling time to other districts, the WIL will promote more economic activities and redevelopment, and provide impetus for rejuvenation of the Western District.
ˇ§The Government and the MTR Corporation Limited (MTRCL) have proactively engaged the local community, including the Central & Western District Council, extensively in the last few years in formulating the railway scheme of the WIL,ˇ¨ the spokesman said. ˇ§The WIL project had been thoroughly discussed in the community and peopleˇ¦s views have been taken into account as far as practicable.
ˇ§It is the local residents' strong wish to bring in railway services to the Western District. They have voiced clear and loud calls for the early implementation of this project.ˇ¨
The WIL railway scheme was first gazetted on October 26, 2007. Amendments to the scheme were gazetted on September 12, 2008 and corrections to the scheme were gazetted on January 9 this year.
Following receipt of objections, the Government and the MTRCL carefully studied the grounds of objections, met the objectors to explain the railway scheme and addressed their concerns. Hearing sessions were conducted by non-official members of Railway Objections Hearing Panels, on those objections not withdrawn. The panels are satisfied that the handling of objections by the Government had been fair, open and transparent. All objections were submitted to the Executive Council for consideration. Changes to the WIL scheme have been made in response to public views and some of the objections.
ˇ§To continue effective communication with the community, the MTRCL, in the course of implementing the WIL, will establish community liaison groups comprising representative of the concerned and affected parties, including ownersˇ¦ corporations, management offices, local committees and schools in the affected areas. The MTRCL will also have to comply with the conditions set out in the Environmental Permit issued by the Director of Environmental Protection to keep disturbances to the environment to acceptable levels,ˇ¨ the spokesman said.
The Administration is now critically assessing the financial proposals by the MTR Corporation Limited for providing funding support to the West Island Line (WIL) project, and aims to submit the funding application to the Public Works Subcommittee and Finance Committee of the Legislative Council as soon as possible. Subject to funding approval, construction works of the WIL will start in mid-2009.
Ends/Friday, March 20, 2009
Issued at HKT 15:20
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