Lawmakers see way more potential in East Kowloon Line

Lawmakers on Friday called on the government to extend the proposed East Kowloon Line, saying there is more potential for it to serve a larger community.

Their comments came after the East Kowloon Line, which has been discussed and explored for nearly a decade, will 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. 

Sources said the plan will now see the new East Kowloon Line connecting to Diamond Hill Station of MTR’s Kwun Tong Line, and will run for approximately 4 kilometers to Po Tat.

Lawmaker Bill Tang Ka-piu of the Federation of Trade Unions, who represents Kowloon East, expressed concern about the future line ending at Po Tat.

The lawmaker noted that it would be much more reasonable for the line to be extended to Lam Tin or Yau Tong, where it can connect to the main MTR network.

Tang also said should the government-proposed Environmentally Friendly Linkage System for Kowloon East, also known as the Kai Tak Monorail, to be brought back on in the future, the government should explore the possibility of linking it to the East Kowloon Line to maximize its potential.

Meanwhile, Roundtable lawmaker Michael Tien Puk-sun said the two ends of the new East Kowloon Line should connect the MTR’s Choi Hung Station and the Tseung Kwan O Station in order to connect the entire Kowloon East area, including those living on hilly terrain in the uphill areas.

He noted that railway systems such as the SkyShuttle system could be adopted to overcome the technical constraints.