Following is a question by the Hon Fred Li and a written reply by the Acting Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works, Mr Stephen Lam, in the Legislative Council today (July 10):
Question :
When the Government invited tenders for the Shatin to Central Link ("SCL"), the Government stated that, to ensure a level playing field, it would consider only those bidding proposals which fully conformed to all the requirements, including railway alignment, specified in the Project Brief ("Conforming Proposals"), and that only after the operator had been selected would it evaluate the non-Conforming Proposals, if any, submitted by the winning corporation. The Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation ("KCRC") was awarded the SCL project on 25th of last month. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the reasons for not providing, when the railway alignment in the Project Brief was drawn up, stations at densely populated areas not being served by any mass transit system (such as Tsz Wan Shan);
(b) of the optimized options proposed in the non-Conforming Proposal submitted by KCRC and whether they include additional stations at Tsz Wan Shan and Whampoa; if so, of the impact of building the two stations on the construction costs and opening date of the railway; if not, whether it will request KCRC to provide the two stations in the corridor alignment; if no such request will be made, of the reasons for that; and
(c) whether it will conduct public consultations on the optimized options in the non-Conforming Proposal submitted by KCRC; if not, of the reasons for that?
Reply :
Madam President,
To ensure a level playing field, the selection of the operator of the Shatin to Central Link (SCL) was made on the basis of proposals which fully conformed to all the requirements, including corridor alignment, specified in the Project Brief (Conforming Proposals). This corridor alignment followed the one in the Railway Development Strategy 2000 (RDS-2000) which sought to provide, subject to technical feasibility, the most direct railway corridor from Tai Wai to Hong Kong Island via Diamond Hill, South East Kowloon and Hung Hom. Therefore, the alignment recommended by RDS-2000 did not include stations at Whampoa and Tsz Wan Shan.
In its Non-Conforming SCL Proposal, KCRC has only suggested an additional station at Queen's Road Central. Following the award of SCL to KCRC, we have already asked the Corporation to consider the feasibility and viability of extending its rail service to Whampoa and Tsz Wan Shan.
Before KCRC presents its detailed scheme to the Government later this year, it will conduct appropriate public consultations.
End/Wednesday, July 10, 2002
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