The existing road and railway infrastructure as at the end of 2014 are shown in Figures 1, 2 and 3.
The major road infrastructure proposals as at end 2014 on Hong Kong Island and in Kowloon and the New Territories are shown in Figures 4 and 5 respectively. Details of major highway projects under construction and planning are given in Tables 1.1 and 1.2 respectively. The five railway projects listed in Table 1.3 and the construction of all projects have already commenced.
The Hong Kong section of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link (XRL) will provide express rail service between Hong Kong and Guangzhou. It will shorten the journey time between Hong Kong and Guangzhou significantly from about 100 minutes to 48 minutes. The Hong Kong section of the XRL is a 26-km long underground rail corridor. Running north from the terminus in West Kowloon, it will pass through Yau Tsim Mong, Sham Shui Po, Kwai Tsing, Tsuen Wan, Yuen Long and the boundary at Huanggang, where it will connect to the Mainland section of the XRL. The construction of the Hong Kong section of the XRL commenced in January 2010. Based on the latest assessment submitted by MTR Corporation Limited in end June 2015, the target for the commissioning would be in the third quarter of 2018.
The construction of the West Island Line (WIL) started in July 2009. The WIL is an extension of the Island Line from Sheung Wan Station westwards with three new stations, namely Sai Ying Pun (SYP), HKU and Kennedy Town (KET). The WIL together with HKU and KET Stations was commissioned on 28 December 2014 whilst the SYP Station was open in end March 2015. The journey time between Sheung Wan and Kennedy Town via WIL is now only 7 minutes, compared with the previous 15 to 25 minutes vehicular journey time during rush hours.
In addition, the construction of the South Island Line East (SIL(E)) and the Kwun Tong Line Extension (KTE) commenced in May 2011. The SIL(E) will be a medium capacity railway line running between Admiralty and South Horizons with three intermediate stations at Ocean Park, Wong Chuk Hang and Lei Tung Estate. Upon commissioning, the journey time between Admiralty and South Horizons will be about 10 minutes as compared with current vehicular journey time of 25 to 45 minutes during rush hours. The KTE is to extend the existing Kwun Tong Line from Yau Ma Tei to Whampoa with an intermediate station at Ho Man Tin. Passengers can interchange at the Ho Man Tin Station for the future Shatin to Central Link. Upon commissioning, the journey time between Mong Kok and Whampoa will be about 5 minutes as compared with current vehicular journey time of about 25 minutes during rush hours. Due to unfavourable geological conditions encountered in underground excavation for the Whampoa Station, the project is suffering persistent delay. As reported by MTR Corporation Limited to the Legislative Council Panel on Transport Subcommittee on Matters Relating to Railways in November 2014, the target for commissioning of Kwun Tong Line Extension would be mid-2016. The SIL(E) is suffering a delay of about 1 year and the target for opening of the railway line is at the end of 2016. The Government will continue to monitor the progress of the works.
The 17-km long Shatin to Central Link (SCL) is a new rail link between Tai Wai and Central through South East Kowloon. It is a territory-wide strategic railway project linking up several existing and future railways. As a result, two strategic railway corridors will be formed, namely the "East West Corridor" and the "North South Corridor". The SCL has 10 stations including Tai Wai, Hin Keng, Diamond Hill, Kai Tak, To Kwa Wan, Ma Tau Wai, Homantin, Hung Hom, Exhibition and Admiralty. The construction of SCL commenced in July 2012. The Tai Wai to Hung Hom Section of SCL will likely have a delay of at least 11 months arising from the archaeological works, archaeological discoveries and conservation options for archaeological features at To Kwa Wan Station. The Government is co-ordinating and overseeing the construction of the SCL, including efforts to mitigate part of the delay to the Tai Wai to Hung Hom section, with a view to commissioning this section in 2019 as far as possible. For the Hung Hom to Admiralty section, the commissioning date will very likely be deferred to 2021 to allow flexibility for the topside development of the convention centre at Exhibition Station, and to cater for the reclamation works under the Wan Chai Development Phase II project as well as the tunnel works of the Central - Wan Chai Bypass project.
The Transport and Housing Bureau (THB) announced the Railway Development Strategy 2014 (RDS-2014) on 17 September 2014, providing a framework for planning the expansion of Hong Kong’s railway network up to 2031. It recommends that seven railway projects be completed in the planning horizon up to 2031 having regard to transport demand, cost-effectiveness and the development needs of New Development Area and other new developments. These seven railway projects are Northern Link and Kwu Tung Station, Tuen Mun South Extension, East Kowloon Line, Tung Chung West Extension, Hung Shui Kiu Station, South Island Line (West) and North Island Line. The taking forward of individual railway projects is subject to the outcome of detailed engineering, environmental and financial studies relating to each project, as well as updated assessment of passenger transport demand and availability of resources at the time. Details on the RDS-2014 can be found at the following website of THB:
http://www.thb.gov.hk/eng/psp/publications/transport/publications/rds2014.pdf