The Hong Kong government has said it will adopt mainland Chinese standards for the first time to develop the new Northern Link mass transit lines to speed up the construction process and reduce costs.
Andy Yau, director of the Highways Department, told select media outlets at a press conference on Wednesday that the department would apply “new Hong Kong standards,” which integrate mainland Chinese standards, to build the Northern Link.
The new arrangement will help lower costs by around 20 to 30 per cent, Yau said.
The mainland Chinese standards will also facilitate streamlining Hong Kong’s construction process of rail lines, the official said, and thereby ensuring the Major Line and the Spur Line of the Northern Link will be in service no later than 2034, two to four years earlier than the original schedule.
There will be no need to amend Hong Kong laws to introduce the new standards because the national Chinese standards for rail lines meet the safety requirements of Hong Kong’s fire services, electrical, and building regulations, Yau said, according to Beijing-backed media Wen Wei Po’s report on Thursday.
The Northern Link is a joint project of the Hong Kong government and the MTR Corporation (MTRC). It is touted as “the public transportation backbone” of the proposed Northern Metropolis, a megaproject to provide more than 900,000 homes for some 2.5 million people near the border.
The transportation system consists of two lines. The Main Line will comprise two terminals and interchange stations, Kwu Tung and Kam Sheung Road stations, which will connect to the East Rail Line and Tuen Ma Line, respectively. There will also be three intermediate stations at San Tin, Ngau Tam Mei and Au Tau.
The Spur Line will connect San Tin Station to Huanggang Port in Shenzhen.
Hong Kong authorities originally planned to finish building the Main Line by 2034, while the Spur Line would be in service between 2036 and 2038.
‘Burning with anxiety’
Xia Baolong, director of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, and several Hong Kong government officials visited a tech park in the Northern Metropolis in February, according to a government statement.
Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee said at LegCo in May that he was “burning with anxiety” about the development of the Northern Metropolis.
Following Xia’s five-day visit to Hong Kong in June, Lee said that the top Chinese official’s speeches had pointed the direction for the city’s future and that he had promised Xia to accelerate the development of the Northern Metropolis, TVB reported.
