Tram may suit Kai Tak better than monorail, operator says
Much-touted rail project set to be challenged by city's tram operator, which says building tram lines is cheaper, quicker and more flexible
A government plan to link the Kai Tak development area with East Kowloon by building a HK$12 billion monorail is to be challenged by the operator of Hong Kong's trams, the has learned.
A proposal submitted by Veolia Transport is threatening to throw the fate of the much-touted monorail into doubt and could influence the government's plan to transform the old airport into the city's second central business district.
The French operator of the iconic century-old tram network is to argue that a modern tram system would be a better option for East Kowloon. At just HK$2.8 billion, the construction cost would be less than a quarter of that of the monorail, and it would not prevent big ships using the Kwun Tong typhoon shelter, which has been a major obstacle holding back the monorail project, sources say.
However, the monorail has strong backing from the community, having received majority support from the district councils involved despite the high cost.
Kwun Tong, Kowloon City and Wong Tai Sin district councils will discuss the tram proposal next month. It would see four routes built in two phases. The first pair - connecting Ngau Tau Kok MTR station with the cruise terminal and Kai Tak's public housing area - would be up and running in 2018, five years earlier than the single-route monorail set to open in 2023.
The second pair of tram lines, linking the public housing area to the cruise terminal, and Lai Yip Street to Kwun Tong MTR station, would open in 2023.
