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1. Diamond Hill eyed for train depot

1. Diamond Hill eyed for train depot
Staff reporter, The Standard 13 November 2006

The train depot for the future Sha Tin- Central rail line may be relocated to Diamond Hill, according to government sources.

The original plan was for the depot to be built at Kai Tak, but under the Kai Tak redevelopment plan announced last month, the government said the depot would be relocated to another district because it limited the integration of Kowloon City and the future development of Kai Tak, sources said.

The government is studying the feasibility of building the depot at Tai Hom Village , Diamond Hill, which is already slated for integrated development, the sources said.

The land at Tai Hom Village was abandoned almost four years ago, and construction of the depot is expected to speed up the planned development of Diamond Hill, sources said.

"Since Tai Hom Village had been proposed as the site for the depot before it was `ticked out' from the Kai Tak redevelopment plan, naturally we would study its feasibility. We still should have certain background information about it," a source said.

Located opposite the Galaxia private housing estate, the 7.1-hectare Tai Hom Village is one of the major plots of land earmarked for further development.

The government and the Kowloon- Canton Railway Corp would need to amend the sub-district planning map if the proposal is finalized because it was not originally planned for the building of a train depot.

Sources said the possibility of allowing private housing atop the depot would not be ruled out.

It remains to be seen whether the proposal would hasten or slow down the planned development of the village.

The government is confident of getting the depot built, citing examples of rail depots built in urban areas, such as Telford Garden in Kowloon Bay , Heng Fa Chuen in Chai Wan and Luk Yeung Sun Tsuen in Tsuen Wan. Centaline Surveyors managing director Victor Lai Kin-fai estimated the Tai Hom Village site would cost more than HK$10 billion.

"Building the depot might decrease the price of the land, but it also depends if there's real estate built on the depot and its influence on the neighborhood," Lai said.

A KCRC spokesman said it is still waiting for the government to announce the plan for the Sha Tin-Central rail line.

An Environment, Transport and Works Bureau spokesman said the government is still studying the Sha Tin-Central line under the KCRC's merger with the Mass Transit Railway Corp.

The study includes details on the planning and infrastructure items of stops along the line, but nothing has been finalized.

The KCRC proposed last year that the rail line be divided into two routes - one extending from the East Rail to Central, via Causeway Bay, the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre in Wan Chai and Admiralty, and the other one extending from Ma On Shan Rail to Tai Wai and Hung Hom stations, via Diamond Hill, Kai Tak, Ma Tau Wai and Ho Man Tin.

The Sha Tin-Central line is expected to come into service in 2011.