MTR Corporation (0066) said on Friday that it has reached a one-off settlement of HK$2.25 billion with the government on construction delays in earlier years in the High Speed Rail (Hong Kong Section).
As for the Shatin to Central Link project, since MTRC has borne the additional cost of a total of around HK$2.8 billion, both parties have decided not to pursue claims against each other over the project delays, and no additional payment will be made.
The government said the settlement arrangement has fully taken into account the responsibilities of the MTRC on the program delays of the two projects.
A spokesman for the Transport and Logistics Bureau said in resolving the settlement, the government and the MTRC have thoroughly reflected on the experiences, and put in place a series of enhancements to strengthen the governance, monitoring and cost management mechanisms of railway projects over the past few years, with a view to further improving the oversight of project management and process at the institutional level.
The spokesman said the government and the MTRC have also implemented the enhanced mechanisms in railway projects currently under way, including Kwu Tung Station, Tung Chung Line Extension, Oyster Bay Station, Tuen Mun South Extension, Hung Shui Kiu Station and the Northern Link Project.
Jeny Yeung, chief executive of the MTRC, said the corporation has drawn lessons from the two projects and conducted reviews and rigorous follow-up in light of their specific circumstances.
She noted that the MTRC worked at the time with the relevant government departments to address those issues and moved forward with project delivery, and both projects were subsequently completed in 2018 and 2022 and progressively commissioned for passenger service.
