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1. KCRC on right track as transit developer

1. KCRC on right track as transit developer
JOSEPH LO, SCMP 15 December 2003

A worker at West Rail's Tuen Mun Station. Picture by Simon Song

The completion of West Rail marks the KCRC's transformation from a passive railway operator into a developer of modern transport networks, a senior executive said.

West Rail director Ian Thomas said: "The momentum for railway building has definitely shifted to the KCRC."

After three false starts this year due to reliability issues, the railway operator announced last week that the $46 billion line connecting the northwestern New Territories and urban areas would be open to passengers on Saturday.

While East Rail has been operating since 1910, it was built by the government and granted to the Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation, as was the Light Transit Railway in the New Territories.

Until West Rail, the KCRC concentrated on running those two operations.

With West Rail, not only was the KCRC committing to building a new rail line for the first time, it also was building the city's biggest infrastructure project since Chek Lap Kok airport.

"It's been a paradigm shift for us. It's hard for an operational railway company to have as big a project as West Rail bolted on," Mr Thomas said.

At the height of its construction, 1,400 workers were involved, representing much as 10 per cent of KCR staff. At its peak, the MTR's Airport Express line had about 1,500 workers building it.

"There is sometimes a difficult relationship between the new and the old . . . it's a shock to have a huge project management office all of a sudden.

"Relationships have to bond and everyone has to learn to work together," Mr Thomas said.

Last week, KCRC chairman Michael Tien Puk-sun announced a restructuring that would merge the operations of the East Rail, West Rail and Light Rail into one group.

"West Rail has acted as a catalyst in terms of facing up to a much greater expanded network," Mr Thomas said.

It was also the first large-scale infrastructure project built under the Environmental Impact Ordinance, which created additional regulatory headaches for project managers.

In particular, Mr Thomas said complying with new noise pollution regulations was a difficult task in the early days of its construction.

With West Rail completed successfully, "we've set a model for our other projects extending over the next decade", including the East Rail extensions in Ma On Shan and Tsim Sha Tsui, and the Lok Ma Chau spur line, Mr Thomas said.