Enhancing the railway service in the Northwest New Territories (2013/12/11)

President, urban land supply is tight in Hong Kong and expansion to the New Territories has become the future direction for development. Urban development in Tuen Mun and Yuen Long of the Northwest New Territories has now achieved a certain scale. According to the data of the 2011 Population Census, the total population of the two districts has reached 1.06 million, which is almost one seventh of Hong Kong's population. To resolve the housing problem, the Government has proposed to conduct a comprehensive planning and consultation in respect of Hung Shui Kiu in the Northwest New Territories. It is anticipated that the local population will increase by almost 200 000 after the plan is implemented. It has become an irreversible fact that the number of people moving to the New Territories and its transient population will further increase. The Government must put in resources and implement different transport network plans according to the future residential layout of the New Territories.

The two rounds of public consultation conducted by the Government entitled "Our Future Railway" ended in May this year. The consultation had further reviewed the Railway Development Strategy 2000 and set out the future railway plans. I consider that one of them, the Northern Link (NOL), should be finalized and implemented as soon as possible. We all know that the West Rail Line is the current option for residents in the Northwest New Territories to go to the urban areas, but railway connection is unavailable if they want to go north to Shenzhen or go horizontally to the Northeast New Territories. It is extremely inconvenient as they can only rely on other land transport modes. Moreover, as the population in the Northeast New Territories and the number of Mainland visitors to Hong Kong increase, the East Rail Line is reaching its capacity. However, the newly built West Rail Line has failed to divert passengers from the East Rail Line for the same reason that there is no railway connection between the two railway lines.

According to the planning of the NOL, there will be one section providing direct access to Lok Ma Chau through the West Rail and another linking up the East and West Rail Lines. Upon completion of the NOL, we can optimize the existing carrying capacity of the West Rail Line and therefore ease the pressure on the East Rail Line. Apart from shortening the travel time between the eastern and western parts of the New Territories, the NOL also helps divert visitors from New Territories East to reduce the pressure on the district, and make commercial activities in the New Territories West more robust, thereby creating more business and job opportunities and developing more quality living and business areas.

President, the consultation paper has also highlighted the Hong Kong-Shenzhen Western Express Line (WEL), the cross-boundary railway which has been discussed for years. When the idea was put forward back then, the WEL was supposed to link up the airports of Hong Kong and Shenzhen. After thorough discussions, the railway network has recently been expanded to cover Tung Chung in North Lantau, Hung Shui Kiu in the Northwest New Territories and Qianhai in Shenzhen, thus enabling the NOL to connect the Airport Express and West Rail Line. Implementation of the planned routes will significantly enhance the economic values of the WEL.

According to the Government's plan, Hung Shui Kiu will be position as the Northwest New Territories New Development Area. Apart from being a source of land supply for high-density residential developments under Hong Kong's long-term housing planning, Hung Shui Kiu will also evolve as one of the hubs of tourism and business in the New Territories, thereby facilitating commercial activities such as retail, tourism and logistics businesses and providing considerable job opportunities. Tung Chung of North Lantau also has enormous potential for development. Let us look at Shenzhen beyond the boundary. Future planning of Shenzhen also focuses on the western part, and Houhai and Qianhai together will form the western urban core. While a number of companies are building skyscrapers as their headquarters, development of the nearby Shenzhen International Airport is still ongoing. Consideration has been given to build a new convention centre. By then, the Shenzhen International Airport, Qianhai and Shenzhen Bay will form another business area in Shenzhen, and a new urban outlook is expecting. Various industries in Hong Kong, particularly financial, trading and tourism, will directly benefit, and commercial, tourism and community activities between Shenzhen and Hong Kong will be increasingly busy. The WEL will help shorten the distance between the two places and bring about substantial business opportunities.

Also, the WEL will help enhance the air connectivity and co-operation between Shenzhen and Hong Kong. Currently, Hong Kong's airport has 140 overseas destinations while Shenzhen's airport has about 82 Mainland destinations. By shortening the distance between the two places and providing a fast and convenient route for passengers plying between the two places, complementarily of destinations between the airports of Hong Kong and Shenzhen can be strengthened, thereby enhancing the competitiveness of the two airports. Given the above factors and taking into account the long-term considerations, I think the WEL should no longer be an armchair strategy; instead, a timetable should be drawn up for further implementation.

I am open-minded and support other enhanced schemes proposed in the Review of the Railway Development Strategy. I hope that the authorities can see farther ahead and properly carry out the relevant assessment, planning and implementation as soon as possible, so as not to miss the golden opportunity to catch up with the external economic developments.

President, I so submit.