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1. Rail link plan, merger ready in two months

1. Rail link plan, merger ready in two months
ANITA LAM and QUINTON CHAN , SCMP 25 March 2006

The government will announce the final route of the Sha Tin-Central rail line in two months, when it announces the merger of the two rail operators, a source said.

The government is also expected to approve an MTR Corp proposal to build an extension from Yau Ma Tei to Whampoa.

The new KCR line to Central will start from Tai Wai station on the East Rail line and will have four stops on the Kowloon side - at Diamond Hill, Kai Tak, To Kwa Wan and Ho Man Tin - before rejoining the East Rail line at Hunghom station.

The link will pass through a new cross-harbour rail tunnel, and have four stops on Hong Kong Island - Causeway Bay, Convention Centre in Wan Chai, East Admiralty and Southern Central near Upper Albert Road.

The KCRC submitted its final proposal for the line to the government in 2004, but the plan has been stalled since then pending a government decision on merging the MTR Corporation and the Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation.

The proposed MTR extension would connect with the new KCR line at Ho Man Tin.

KCR Workers' Union chairman Ko Pak-kwan welcomed the prospect of an announcement about the Sha Tin-Central line, and urged the company's new chief executive, James Blake, to defend workers' interests during merger talks.

"I hope the merger plan can materialise soon so as to remove any ambiguity," he said.

Union representatives met Mr Blake for the first time yesterday and told the new chief executive and transport secretary Sarah Liao Sau-tung that staff deserved a rise.

Mr Blake, who took over the troubled rail corporation on Wednesday with a promise to boost morale, did not immediately respond to Mr Ko's request, but vowed to keep communication with frontline staff open.