Sha Tin to Central Link

Sha Tin to Central Link 沙田至中環線

No. of stations 10 Type Heavy rail Districts Sha Tin, Wong Tai Sin, Kowloon City, Wan Chai, Central and Western Voltage AC 25000 V, 50 Hz Track gauge 1435 mm

Bold font indicates existing station Italic font indicates station under construction or planning  North-south Line (East Rail Line)  Sha Tin  East-west Line (Ma On Shan Line)  Tai Wai Tai Wai Depot Hin Keng Kowloon Tong Diamond Hill  Kwun Tong Line  Diamond Hill Stabling Sidings Kai Tak To Kwa Wan Ma Tau Wai Mong Kok East  Tsuen Wan Line  Yau Ma Tei Ho Man Tin Hung Hom(Through Train terminus) Whampoa Jordan Tsim Sha Tsui East Tsim Sha Tsui 4th cross-harbour railway tunnel Exhibition  Island Line  1st cross-harbour railway tunnel Admiralty  South Island Line (east)  Central  Island Line  Hong Kong 3rd cross-harbour railway tunnel Austin, Kowloon (West Kowloon Terminus) Olympic Nam Cheong  Airport Express   Tung Chung Line   East-west Line (West Rail Line)

Shatin to Central Link (Chinese: 沙田至中環線, also called as 沙中線) is a proposed railway line in Hong Kong which will run from Tai Wai Station in Tai Wai to Hung Hom. The original proposal had this line running to Central, but this will now be an extension of the East Rail Line.

The proposed route roughly follows the East Kowloon Line (東九龍綫), which was proposed in the late 1960s. The railway will be operated by the MTR Corporation Limited and the final draft proposal issued to the government by end of 2007. Construction is planned to start no later than 2010 and operation to begin in 2015 (Hung Hom section).

Originally, construction and operation were awarded to the Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation (KCRC) after a bidding process. However, as the Hong Kong Government leased KCRC's transport operations to the MTR Corporation Limited (MTRCL), KCRC's sole rival in the bidding, the railway will be operated by the MTRCL upon completion of construction.

History

On 25 June 2002, the government announced that the Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation (KCRC) had won its bid against the MTR Corporation Limited (MTRCL) to build and operate the Shatin to Central Link. The route was originally planned to go from Tai Wai Station to Central West Station (a proposed station located under the Mid-Levels).

The KCRC announced modifications to the proposal in 2005, with the East Kowloon portion of the line joining KCR Ma On Shan Rail (Ma On Shan Line) at Tai Wai and West Rail (West Rail Line) at Hung Hom, and the cross-harbour portion joining KCR East Rail (East Rail Line) at Hung Hom. However, the KCRC's proposal had not yet been finalised.

At the same time, the MTRC submitted a new proposal to the government. According to the proposal, Kwun Tong Line would be extended from Yau Ma Tei Station to Whampoa Station in Whampoa Garden. Also, the route of Shatin to Central Link will be built according to the original proposal instead of the KCRC's modified proposal.

On 11 April 2006, MTRC signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding with the Hong Kong Government, the owner of KCRC, to merge the operations of the territory's two railway networks. According to the memorandum, the current MTR lines may be fully integrated with the Shatin to Central Link. Also, the government intends to choose the KCRC's modified proposal to build the railway, that is, extending the current East Rail Line to the Hong Kong Island. However, final decisions will not be made before conducting further studies on the proposal with the MTRC.

On 12 July 2007, both companies announced the new proposal .

KCRC's original proposal

KCR's original bid

Ma On Shan Rail Extension (Tai Wai to Central West)

Originally, the KCRC chose to extend the current Ma On Shan Line from Tai Wai to Central West via stations in East Kowloon and northern shore of the Hong Kong Island in the original bid for the line.

The following is a list of proposed stations in the KCRC's original bid for the line:

• Tai Wai (大圍, Interchange to █ East Rail Line)
• Tsz Wan Shan (慈雲山)
• Diamond Hill (鑽石山)
• Kai Tak (啟德, original site of Hong Kong International Airport)
• Ma Tau Wai (馬頭圍)
• To Kwa Wan (土瓜灣)
• Ho Man Tin (何文田, Interchange to █ Kwun Tong Line)
• Whampoa Garden (黃埔花園)
• Hung Hom (紅磡, Interchange to █ East Rail Line and █ West Rail Line)
• Exhibition (會展, Interchange to █ Island Line)
• Admiralty (金鐘)
• Central West (中環西)

KCRC's modified proposal

KCR's 2004 modified proposal

In 2004, the KCRC sent a modified proposal of the railway to the government. According to the proposal, Ma On Shan Line will be extended to East Kowloon and join West Rail Line at Hung Hom. In addition, the cross-harbour portion will become an extension of East Rail Line, running from Mong Kok to Central South.

Ma On Shan Rail East Kowloon Extension (Tai Wai to Hung Hom)

Ma On Shan Line will be extended from Tai Wai to Hung Hom via East Kowloon. The extension will join West Rail Line at Hung Hom to the northwest New Territories via the Kowloon Southern Link and the current route of West Rail Line, forming an East-to-West railway corridor. Also, the KCRC had decided not to build stations in Tsz Wan Shan and Whampoa Garden. However, both stations will be linked by the Automatic People Mover from Diamond Hill and Hung Hom respectively.

The following is a list of proposed stations of the Ma On Shan Rail East Kowloon Extension:

• Tai Wai (Interchange to █ East Rail Line)
• Diamond Hill (Interchange to Automatic People Mover to Tsz Wan Shan)
• Kai Tak
• To Kwa Wan / Ma Tau Wai
• Ho Man Tin
• Hung Hom (Interchange to █ East Rail Line and Automatic People Mover to Whampoa Garden) - Joining █ West Rail Line to East Tsim Sha Tsui

Cross-harbour Extension (Mong Kok to Central South)

According to the proposal, a new Mong Kok East station will be relocated a few hundred metres to the south of the current Mong Kok East station. Also, a new underground tunnel will be built to link between Mong Kok East and Hung Hom, which will join the cross-harbour tunnel to the northern shore of Hong Kong Island, forming a North-to-South railway corridor.

The following is a list of proposed stations of the Cross-harbour Extension:

• Mong Kok East
• Hung Hom (Interchange to █ Ma On Shan Line / █ West Rail Line and Automatic People Mover to Whampoa Garden)
• Causeway Bay North
• Exhibition
• Admiralty East
• Central South

MTRC's proposal

MTR's original bid

Shatin to Central Link (Tai Wai to Central)

The following is a list of stations proposed in the MTRC's original bid for the line:

• Tai Wai (Interchange to █ East Rail Line and █ Ma On Shan Line)
• Tsz Wan Shan
• Diamond Hill (Interchange to █ Kwun Tong Line)
• Kai Tak
• Ma Tau Wai
• To Kwa Wan
• Ho Man Tin (Interchange to █ Kwun Tong Line)
• Hung Hom (Interchange to █ East Rail Line and █ West Rail Line)
• Exhibition
• Admiralty (Interchange to █ Island Line)
• Central West (Interchange to █ Island Line, █ Tsuen Wan Line, █ Tung Chung Line and █ Airport Express)

An underground train depot would be built beneath the passenger terminal of the former Kai Tak International Airport, adjacent to Prince Edward Road East in Kowloon City.

Kwun Tong Line Extension (Yau Ma Tei to Whampoa)

In addition, the MTRC had previously proposed extending the Kwun Tong Line to Whampoa Garden. As the KCRC had decided not to build a station in Whampoa Garden on the Shatin to Central Link, the MTRC sent this proposal again to the government.

The extension would run from the current Yau Ma Tei terminus to:

• Ho Man Tin (Interchange to Shatin to Central Link)
• Whampoa

MTR-KCR merger proposal

Merger proposal

As the MTR and KCR were merging, the two companies announced the new proposal on 12 July 2007.

East-west Line

The stations will be:

• Tai Wai (大圍, interchange to █ East Rail Line and connects █ Ma On Shan Line)
• Diamond Hill (鑽石山, Interchange to █ Kwun Tong Line)
• Kai Tak (啟德)
• Ma Tau Wai (馬頭圍)
• To Kwa Wan (土瓜灣)
• Ho Man Tin (何文田, Interchange to █ Kwun Tong Line)
• Hung Hom (紅磡, Interchange to North-south Line and connects █ West Rail Line)

North-south Line

The original Causeway Bay North (銅鑼灣北) station was cancelled due to potential effects on traffic during the construction of the station.

• Hung Hom (紅磡, Interchange to East-west Line and connects █ East Rail Line)
• Exhibition (會展)
• Admiralty (金鐘, Interchange to █ Island Line and █ Tsuen Wan Line)
• Central South (中環南)

Kwun Tong Line extension

• Yau Ma Tei (油麻地, Interchange to █ Tsuen Wan Line and connects █ Kwun Tong Line)
• Ho Man Tin (何文田, Interchange to East-west Line)
• Whampoa Garden (黃埔)

MTR-KCR revised proposal

Revised proposal

The MTRC announced a revised proposal on 11 March 2008. The Government will fund all of the required HK$37.4 billion for construction.

East-west Line

For the section assigned to East-west Line, the stations will be:

• Tai Wai (大圍, interchange to █ East Rail Line and connects █ Ma On Shan Line)
• Hin Keng (顯徑)
• Diamond Hill (鑽石山, Interchange to █ Kwun Tong Line)
• Kai Tak (啟德)
• Ma Tau Wai (馬頭圍)
• To Kwa Wan (土瓜灣)
• Ho Man Tin (何文田, Interchange to █ Kwun Tong Line)
• Hung Hom (紅磡, Interchange to North-south Line and connects █ West Rail Line)

Construction will be started in 2012 and completed in 2018.

North-south Line

The original Causeway Bay North (銅鑼灣北) station was cancelled due to potential effects on traffic during the construction of the station.

• Hung Hom (紅磡, Interchange to East-west Line and connects █ East Rail Line)
• Exhibition (會展)
• Admiralty (金鐘, Interchange to █ Island Line and █ Tsuen Wan Line)

Central South (中環南) has not been cancelled, but excluded in the modified plan because no suitable sites have been found at this stage. Construction will be completed in 2020.

Kwun Tong Line extension

• Yau Ma Tei (油麻地, Interchange to █ Tsuen Wan Line and connects █ Kwun Tong Line)
• Ho Man Tin (何文田, Interchange to East-west Line)
• Whampoa (黃埔)

Construction will be finished in 2015.

See also

• Tai Hom Village, for details about the planned depot