Construction details of East Kowloon Line to be introduced in Policy Address: sources

The East Kowloon Line, which has been discussed and explored for nearly a decade, would finally be introduced in the upcoming policy address, according to sources.

It was learned that the project would be adopted for open tendering to invite operators to submit expressions of interest by the middle of next year.

According to the Railway Development Strategy issued in 2014, the government initially planned the construction of the East Kowloon Line to connect Diamond Hill Station of  MTR Kwun Tong Line to Po Lam Station of the MTR Tseung Kwan O Line via Choi Wan, Shun Tin, Sau Mau Ping, and Po Tat. 

However, authorities preferred to develop the Line as an "elevated trackless rapid transit system" rather than a heavy railway system after conducting a study, and decided that the Line would not cover Tseung Kwan O.

Raymond Chan Kin-shek, former head of the Geotechnical Engineering Office of the Civil Engineering and Development Department, said the construction work could be challenging as the alignment and gradient of the system may vary.

Chan added that special arrangements for emergency rescue also have to be considered in case there are accidents on the overhead system.

Some have proposed various construction forms for the East Kowloon Line, including the SkyShuttle system, Autonomous Rail Rapid Transit, or Bus Rapid System.