The MTR West Island Line (WIL) has reached another exciting milestone with the completion of major structural works at all three new train stations, namely Sai Ying Pun Station, HKU Station and Kennedy Town Station.
Guests from the local community in Western District today (31 October 2013) joined the Chief Secretary for Administration Mrs Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, GBS, JP, Secretary for Transport and Housing Professor Anthony Cheung, GBS, JP and Chief Executive Officer of MTR Corporation Mr Jay Walder to mark the occasion which brings WIL an important step closer to its scheduled opening next year.
Officiating at the MTR WIL Stations Structural Works Completion Ceremony, Mrs Carrie Lam complimented the MTR project team and the local community on their collaborative partnership in overcoming all challenges to bring the project forward to this stage.
“A high capacity railway is the backbone of public transport systems in densely populated cities such as Hong Kong. The West Island Line will be the first to be completed among the five on-going new rail projects in Hong Kong. Although the WIL is only 3.2 km in length, it serves a very important public transport function. Upon completion next year, the WIL will connect the oldest business district in Hong Kong with our current business and financial centre. Not only will it alleviate road-based traffic in this area, it will also drive economic activities and community development in the Western District,” said Mrs Lam.
“This new community railway is rapidly taking shape before us and we are well on track for opening next year. With major civil works completed for all three new stations, the electrical, mechanical and other fitting out works are now in full swing. We are thankful for the immense support from the local community over the past four years,“ said Mr Jay Walder, Chief Executive Officer of MTR Corporation. “MTR will continue to work closely with the local community and our partners to deliver a safe, reliable and efficient new railway line to serve the 200,000 people living and working in Western District.”
Sai Ying Pun, HKU and Kennedy Town stations have a total of 15 entrances providing a convenient pedestrian network in the district via the unpaid areas of the stations. Over 90 percent of the residents in Western District will have easy access to the railway on foot. While construction of Kennedy Town Station used the cut and cover method, Sai Ying Pun Station and HKU Station were constructed as underground caverns at depths of 50 metres and 70 metres below ground respectively. HKU Station will become the biggest and deepest station cavern in the existing MTR network. Sai Ying Pun Station will display the largest artworks area on the existing network with about 800 square metres of station art.
To date the WIL project is over 80 percent complete. Apart from a passenger tunnel linking up entrances at First Street, Second Street and Ki Ling Lane in Sai Ying Pun that are undergoing ground freezing excavation works, all passenger tunnels of the WIL are complete. Installation of the power supply systems for the stations and track, and energisation of the overhead line system are scheduled for completion in the fourth quarter of this year, allowing the testing and commissioning works for the operational railway to commence.
When the West Island Line opens next year, it will connect Western District to the existing MTR network. A journey from Kennedy Town to Sheung Wan will take only 8 minutes compared to the present 15 to 25 minutes by road-based transport.
Press Release of MTR, 31 October 2013
