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Following is a question by the Hon Lee Wing-tat and a written reply by the Secretary for the Environment, Mr Edward Yau, in the Legislative Council today (November 4):
Question:
On February 11 this year, I asked a question on the project of retrofitting noise barriers along the Tsing Yi section of the Airport Railway ("the Tsing Yi section"), and the Government replied that the project would be completed in the first half of this year. Yet, recently from time to time I still received complaints from residents about the noise generated by trains running along the said section. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) whether it knows if the aforesaid project of retrofitting noise barriers has been completed; whether it has monitored the improvement in the noise level in the residential areas nearby; if it has, of the details;
(b) of the number of complaints received by the Environmental Protection Department (EPD) in the past six months about the noise generated by trains running along the said section and, among such complaints, the number of substantiated cases as well as the follow-up actions taken by EPD and the other relevant government departments; and
(c) whether it has discussed with the MTR Corporation Limited (MTRC) the consideration of retrofitting noise barriers along all the portions of the Tsing Yi section which are close to the residential areas; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Reply:
President,
(a) The MTR Corporation Limited completed the retrofitting of noise barriers for the Tsing Yi section of the Airport Railway in March 2009. Following completion of the works, tests have been carried out by the MTRC have shown that the project can effectively reduce the noise generated by passing trains by 2 to 5 decibels.
(b) In the past 6 months, EPD received one complaint about noise generated by trains running along the Tsing Yi section. EPD staff took measurements at the complainant's flat. The results showed that the noise generated by trains did not exceed the statutory limit. The EPD has informed the MTRC of the noise complaint.
(c) According to the information available to the EPD, noise generated by trains running along the Tsing Yi section did not exceed the statutory limit. Therefore the EPD has not discussed with the MTRC on retrofitting noise barriers at other locations along the Tsing Yi section. The EPD will continue to monitor the noise situation along this section.
Ends/Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Issued at HKT 11:59
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