For information on Task Force on Land Supply

6 March 2018 Paper No. 06/2018

TASK FORCE ON LAND SUPPLY

Planning of Transport Infrastructure

PURPOSE

This paper briefs members on the prevailing approach for the

planning of transport infrastructure to support development needs, as well as
the capacity-creating approach advocated under the study on “Hong Kong
2030+: Towards a Planning Vision and Strategy Transcending 2030” (“Hong
Kong 2030+ Study”).

TRANSPORT INFRASTRUCTURE IN THE PIPELINE

2. It is the Government’s aim to provide a safe, efficient, reliable and

environmentally friendly transport system for the sustainable development in
Hong Kong. The aim is achieved by expanding and improving the transport
infrastructure in a timely manner; improving the coordination and the quality
of public transport services; and managing road use to reduce congestion and
to promote safety. To ensure transport infrastructure is implemented in a
timely manner, we adopt the principle of integrating land-use, transport and
environmental planning, with priority accorded to railway. The integrated
approach takes into account land-use and environmental planning in order to
minimise the need for travel, i.e. the population and employment centres are
placed as close as practicable and in the vicinity of railway stations served by
integrated pedestrian systems and other transport feeder services to maximise
the use of railway.

3. The Planning Department (PlanD) compiles a set of Territorial

Population and Employment Data Matrix (TPEDM), which is a
well-coordinated population and employment forecast for a certain number of
zones in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and is a basis on
which all major infrastructure including roads, railway, and water supply are
planned. The TPEDM is updated from time to time by the PlanD to capture
the latest population surveys and forecasts, development proposals and
socio-economic data in the planning horizon. As major infrastructural
projects necessitate the investment of substantial public funds by the
Government, an updated and accurate TPEDM is an essential planning tool
enabling the Government to make investments over the years in transport
infrastructure projects to meet traffic demand in good time based on a
financially prudent approach and the principle of sustainable development.

4. In line with common international practice for infrastructure projects

and established methodology, the assessment on economic return is an
indicator of the benefits that a proposed transport infrastructure project will
bring to the community. Conventionally, economic return is represented by
the economic internal rate of return (EIRR). The EIRR of a transport
infrastructure project mainly reflects the savings in the travelling time of
transport users over the project life (of 50 years), as a measure of the overall
cost-effectiveness of the project to the community.

5. It is noted that the conventionally defined EIRR may not be able to

reflect some aspects of economic benefits of a transport infrastructure project
which may not be readily quantifiable, such as supporting land use proposals
and development opportunities; and for railway, offering transport service of
higher quality and cultivating a greener environment. All these factors are
taken into account in the overall appraisal of transport infrastructure proposals
as they are all concerned with the sustainability of a community, such as the
quality of life, mobility of the population, and competitiveness of the
economy.

Road Infrastructure

6. Road infrastructure supports all main land-based public transport

modes (except railway) that account for about 60% of the daily patronage in
Hong Kong. Roads are also essential for the carriage of goods that support
the logistics industry and door-to-door transport including vehicles for security
and emergency purposes. The Transport Department (TD) and the Highways
Department (HyD) conduct regular reviews of the development of transport
infrastructure in Hong Kong and strategic assessments on major highway
developments. They use transport models and the latest TPEDM to forecast
the traffic demand in the territory in order to update the need, scope and
implementation timetable of various proposed major highway projects. The
TD last updated the transport model to ensure that the planning parameters up
to 2036 be included in the traffic forecast.

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7. Under the prevailing approach, we have been able to establish the
justifications for new road projects and secure funding from the Finance
Committee (FC) of the Legislative Council (LegCo) for their implementation.
In the past ten years, major projects completed include Route 8 (the Tsing Yi
Section and the Sha Tin Section), the Kong Sham Western Highway, the
widening of Tolo Highway – Stages 1 and 2 and the reconstruction and
improvement of Tuen Mun Road. Large-scale road projects under
construction include the Hong Kong sections of the Hong
Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge (namely the Hong Kong Link Road and the Hong
Kong Boundary Crossing Facilities), the Tuen Mun-Chek Lap Kok Link, the
Central-Wan Chai Bypass and Island Eastern Corridor, the Tseung Kwan
O-Lam Tin Tunnel and the Central Kowloon Route. Local improvement
works under construction include the Hiram’s Highway Improvement Stage 1
and the improvement to Pok Oi Interchange. In parallel, we are seeking
funding approval from the FC for the widening of Tai Po Road (Sha Tin
Section) and the construction of Cross Bay Link in Tseung Kwan O. Projects
under planning include the Trunk Road T2 of the strategic Route 6, Route 11,
and the Tuen Mun Western Bypass. The locations of the existing strategic
routes, and the recently completed, planned and committed major roads are
indicated in Annex 1 and Annex 2 respectively.

Railway

8. Railway is the backbone of the public transport system of Hong

Kong. Railway projects involve huge capital investment, and it typically
takes more than ten years for a railway project to take shape from formulation
of ideas, conceptual planning, consultation with stakeholders, detailed design,
to actual construction and completion. As they have profound impact on
people’s livelihood and socio-economic development, we have to be
forward-looking and make timely plans for our railway development in future.

9. After the commissioning of the West Island Line in 2015, as well as

Kwun Tong Line Extension and South Island Line (East) in 2016, we continue
to press ahead with the construction of the Hong Kong Section of
Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link (XRL) and the Shatin to
Central Link (SCL). The target commissioning date of the XRL is in the
third quarter of 2018. For the SCL, the target commissioning date of the “Tai
Wai to Hung Hom Section” is in mid-2019, while that of the “Hung Hom to
Admiralty Section” is in 2021. Upon their completion by 2021, our railway
network will be expanded to cover areas inhabited by over 70% of the
population in Hong Kong.

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10. The latest blueprint of railway development in Hong Kong is the
“Railway Development Strategy 2014” (RDS-2014), which aims at providing
a framework for planning the future expansion of Hong Kong’s railway
network up to 2031. The RDS-2014 is based on the findings and final
recommendations of the consultancy study and the views collected during a
two-stage Public Engagement exercise. In formulating the Strategy, a wide
range of factors, including transport planning1, land use planning and housing
demand, development needs, economic return and other benefits,
environmental impact and engineering feasibility, have been considered.
Seven railway projects are recommended to be taken forward under the
RDS-2014, viz. Northern Link and Kwu Tung Station, Hung Shui Kiu Station,
Tung Chung West Extension, Tuen Mun South Extension, East Kowloon Line,
South Island Line (West) and North Island Line. The taking forward of
individual proposed railway projects will be subject to the outcome of detailed
engineering, environmental and financial studies relating to each project, as
well as updated demand assessment and availability of resources. When all
these railway schemes are completed progressively up to 2031, the railway
network will cover areas inhabited by 75% of the local population and about
85% of job opportunities. The locations of the existing, recently
commissioned, planned and committed railways are indicated in Annex 3 and
Annex 4 respectively.

11. Our overall aim is to develop an affordable, accessible, efficient and

environmentally friendly public transport system providing diverse choices for
the travelling public. As projects other than railway such as initiatives on
land production, housing supply, hospitals, schools and elderly centres may be
equally, if not more, important to the community, the Government will
carefully consider all relevant factors and strike a reasonable balance among
various interests of the community when mapping out the way forward for
each railway project. In particular, we will critically examine the financial
implications of individual railway projects to the Government and consider the
most appropriate implementation programme and financing arrangement for
each project.

12. In addition, the timetable for the implementation of the railway

schemes may be adjusted for railway projects which are contingent upon the
progress of residential developments to address the associated transport needs.
In other words, a railway project will be taken forward to support planned

1
Factors such as high level of connectivity, relief to the loading of critical transport corridors, and operational
robustness of the railway network are taken into account.

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development if the planning parameters so justify.

CAPACITY-CREATING APPROACH UNDER “HONG KONG 2030+

STUDY”

13. The on-going “Hong Kong 2030+ Study” undertaken by the

Development Bureau (DEVB) and the PlanD advocates an enhanced strategic
planning approach with a view to creating development capacity for Hong
Kong in an optimal manner in tandem with enhancement of infrastructural as
well as environmental capacity. This approach aims not only to cater for
foreseeable land use demand arising from trend-based population growth and
economic development, but also proactively plan with visions in advance for
capacity to enhance the quality of our living environment, cater for potential
demand and unforeseen circumstances, as well as respond to possible changes
and challenges in a timely manner.

14. To create a reasonable capacity to meet projected housing, social and

economic needs with buffer to respond to unforeseeable demands, the “Hong
Kong 2030+ Study” proposed two strategic growth areas (SGAs), namely the
East Lantau Metropolis (ELM) and the New Territories North (NTN), and a
supporting transport network comprising a Northwest New Territories
(NWNT)-Lantau-Metro Transport Corridor connecting ELM with Hong Kong
West, West Kowloon, North Lantau and NWNT, and a North-South Transport
Corridor connecting NTN with the Metro Area. The strategic transport
corridors will also enhance urban mobility, thereby benefitting a wider
community not just the population in ELM and NTN. A conceptual spatial
framework proposed under the “Hong Kong 2030+ Study” is shown in Annex
5.

15. Based on our understanding, under the capacity-creating approach,

the strategic planning of the infrastructure along two proposed transport
corridors would be geared towards generating sufficient and timely capacity
with contingency to support the spatial distribution of development capacity.
Specifically, under the spatial development strategy devised under the “Hong
Kong 2030+ Study”, a set of broad planning parameters will be provided in
terms of future territorial distribution of development capacity for population,
employment, land uses, etc., which could then form the basis for any reviews

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or studies on strategic planning of transport and other infrastructure by the
respective bureaux and departments in the same manner as at present. To
implement this approach, and so that the relevant bureaux and departments (at
the downstream) have a clear basis to follow up, vision-driven planning data
will have to be incorporated into the TPEDM by the PlanD.

16. As a matter of fact, the capacity-creating approach is a paradigm

shift from the prevailing demand-led approach. Population and employment
forecasts, traditional volume/capacity ratios and EIRR, etc. would no longer be
the only key criteria for assessment in future. Rather, they have to be
supplemented by justifications arising from the visionary land use planning
scenarios. The basis for justifying the provision of infrastructure, including
water supply, sewerage, transport, etc., will have to be acceptable to parties
both within and outside the Government including the LegCo and the Director
of Audit (as completed projects would be subject to value-for-money audits).

17. According to DEVB, while sufficient land resources and

infrastructure capacity with necessary contingency would be planned upfront
at a strategic level, the implementation of individual projects would continue
to be assessed and evaluated meticulously and thoroughly in accordance with
the established mechanism, legal framework, guidelines and/or standards
taking into account relevant considerations including cost-effectiveness and
priority of resources. Based on our experience in dealing with different
stakeholders (both inside and outside the Government), the application of the
capacity-creating approach at the project level may well call for the
incorporation of planning parameters in different versions of the TPEDM by
the PlanD to cover scenarios with and without the “capacity creating”
contingency. We would use our best endeavours to develop technically
feasible schemes under both scenarios (obviously with different price tags) for
presentation to the community (including the LegCo and relevant District
Councils) so that they can make informed decisions whether to allocate
resources to the transport infrastructure project that is premised on the
capacity-creating approach.

18. Extra resources will inevitably be required when contingency (extra

capacity) is allowed for in transport infrastructure projects. The level of extra
resources required will vary among projects. In general, as there will be
more spatial requirements for the contingency itself, extra resources are

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needed to develop or resume adjacent land lots (especially in urban areas) to
provide space for the additional transport infrastructure such as additional
traffic lanes and grade-separated interchanges. In addition, the provision of
contingency would be subject to statutory assessments under the
Environmental Impact Assessment Ordinance, the Town Planning Ordinance
and the Protection of Harbour Ordinance, etc.

STRATEGIC STUDIES ON RAILWAYS AND MAJOR ROADS

BEYOND 2030

19. We are seeking funding approval from the LegCo to commission the
“Strategic Studies on Railways and Major Roads beyond 2030” (RMR2030+
Studies) on the basis of the strategic direction for transport provision to be
drawn up under the “Hong Kong 2030+ Study”. The RMR2030+ Studies
will examine the performance of the transport infrastructure (including railway
and major roads) in Hong Kong between 2031 and 2041, based on the latest
planning information available (up to 2041). Where potential bottlenecks due
to the change in the overall development are identified, the HyD and the TD
will recommend railway projects or major road projects respectively wherever
practicable.

20. The RMR2030+ Studies will draw particular attention to the transport
infrastructure for supporting the two SGAs (i.e. ELM and NTN) recommended
for long-term implementation in the “Hong Kong 2030+ Study”. The Studies
will look into the layout of the proposed railway and major road infrastructure;
and cover preliminary engineering technical reviews to ensure that the
planning of large-scale transport infrastructure can meet the needs of long term
overall land use developments. The RMR2030+ Studies will also examine
the impact of the proposed transport infrastructure on the existing transport
network to formulate relevant transport strategies.

21. Apart from the above two SGAs, the RMR2030+ Studies will focus
on the loading of the heavy rails in the NWNT beyond 2030 according to the
planning data up to 2041. Based on the forecast demand, we will carry out
studies on whether it is necessary to construct a new heavy rail to directly
connect NWNT to urban areas.

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22. On the basis of the final results of the “Hong Kong 2030+ Study” and
subject to the availability of the TPEDM by the PlanD (with the contingency
incorporated), we are prepared to adopt the capacity-creating approach in
conducting transport model runs and assessing the traffic forecasts on the
proviso that the Government (led by DEVB) can secure broad community
support on the adoption of this approach. After securing funding from the
LegCo, we will commence the RMR2030+ Studies as soon as practicable.

Transport and Housing Bureau

March 2018

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現有的主要幹道 Existing Strategic Routes 附件1 Annex 1

古洞北
新發展區
落馬洲河套區

粉嶺北
新發展區

古洞南

91
10
1

元朗南 91
洪水橋新發展區

錦田南
圖例 Legend:
現有鐵路 Existing Railway Lines
屯門40及46區 91
31 11 一號幹線 Route 1
21
91 21 二號幹線 Route 2
鑽石山
51 綜合發展區
港珠澳大橋香港口岸
人工島上蓋發展
31 三號幹線 Route 3
啟德發展區
81 31
機場島北商業區 71 安達臣道石礦場 41 四號幹線 Route 4
81 11
51 五號幹線 Route 5
81 51 71
31 71 七號幹線 Route 7
東涌新市
21
41 前茶果嶺高嶺土礦場
鎮擴展 41 81 八號幹線 Route 8

11 將軍澳137 區 91 九號幹線 Route 9

10
1 十號幹線 Route 10

前南丫石礦場
近期完成、已規劃及已落實的主要道路項目 Recently Completed, Planned and Committed Major Roads 附件2 Annex 2

古洞北
新發展區
落馬洲河套區

粉嶺北
新發展區

港深西部公路
Kong Sham Western Highway
古洞南 吐露港公路擴闊工程(第二階段)
Widening of Tolo Highway – Stage 2

博愛交匯處改善工程
屯門西繞道 吐露港公路擴闊工程(第一階段)
Improvement to Pok Oi Interchange
Tuen Mun Western Bypass Widening of Tolo Highway – Stage 1
元朗南
洪水橋新發展區

錦田南 大埔公路（沙田段）擴闊工程
Widening of Tai Po Road (Sha Tin Section)

屯門40及46區 11號幹線
屯門公路重建及改善工程
Reconstruction and
，
Route 11 Improvement of Tuen Mun
屯門至赤鱲角連接路
Road 西貢公路改善工程第一期
Tuen Mun - Chek Lap Kok 鑽石山 Hiram’s Highway Improvement Stage 1
Link 綜合發展區
港珠澳大橋香港口岸
人工島上蓋發展
T2主幹路
機場島北商業區 啟德發展區 Trunk Road T2
將軍澳 – 藍田隧道
8號幹線(青衣及沙田段) 安達臣道 Tseung Kwan O – Lam Tin
Route 8 (Tsing Yi and 石礦場 Tunnel
Sha Tin Sections)
中九龍幹線
Central Kowloon Route 前茶果嶺高嶺土礦場
東涌新市鎮擴展

中環灣仔繞道和東區走廊連接路
Central – Wan Chai Bypass & 圖例 Legend:
港珠澳大橋 Island Eastern Corridor Link 現有鐵路 Existing Railway Lines
Hong Kong - Zhuhai - Macao 將軍澳跨灣連接路 現有主要幹道 Existing Strategic Routes
Bridge Cross Bay Link at 過去10年完成的主要道路 Major Road Projects completed in the past 10 years
香港接線 前南丫石礦場 Tseung Kwan O
Hong Kong Link Road 建造中的主要道路 Major Road Projects under Construction
規劃中的主要道路(示意走線) Major Road Projects under Planning (Indicative
Alignment)
現有的鐵路網 Existing Railways 附件3 Annex 3

古洞北
新發展區
落馬洲河套區

粉嶺北
新發展區

古洞南

元朗南
洪水橋新發展區 ER

錦田南
圖例 Legend:
現有幹道 Existing Strategic Routes
屯門40及46區 WR MOL 西鐵線 West Rail Line (WR)
東鐵線 East Rail Line (ER)
南港島線 South Island Line (SIL)
鑽石山 馬鞍山線 Ma On Shan Line (MOL)
綜合發展區 東涌線 Tung Chung Line (TCL)
港珠澳大橋香港口岸 TWL 機場快線 Airport Express (AEL)
人工島上蓋發展 啟德發展區 港島線 Island Line (IL)
機場島北商業區 安達臣道石礦場 荃灣線 Tsuen Wan Line (TWL)
KTL 觀塘線 Kwun Tong Line (KTL)
DRL 將軍澳線 Tseung Kwan O Line (TKOL)
TCL
迪士尼線 Disneyland Resort Line (DRL)
AEL TKOL
東涌新市 前茶果嶺高嶺土礦場
鎮擴展

IL
將軍澳137 區

SIL

前南丫石礦場
近期完成、已規劃及已落實的鐵路 Recently Commissioned, Planned and Committed Railways 附件4 Annex 4

古洞北
新發展區
落馬洲河套區
擬議北環線(及古洞站)
Proposed Northern Link 粉嶺北
(and Kwu Tung Station ) 新發展區

古洞南 廣深港高速鐵路香港段
Hong Kong Section of the
Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong
Kong Express Rail Link

元朗南
洪水橋新發展區

擬議洪水橋站 錦田南
Proposed Hung Shui Kiu Station
沙田至中環線 (沙中線)
Shatin to Central Link
屯門40及46區

鑽石山
綜合發展區
擬議屯門南延線 港珠澳大橋香港口岸
Proposed Tuen Mun South Extension 人工島上蓋發展 啟德發展區

機場島北商業區 安達臣道石礦場

觀塘線延線 擬議東九龍線 Proposed East Kowloon Line

Kwun Tong Line
Extension
東涌新市 前茶果嶺高嶺土礦場
鎮擴展 西港島線
West Island Line
擬議東涌西延線
Proposed Tung Chung West Extension 將軍澳137 區

擬議南港島線（西段）
Proposed South Island Line (West) 南港島線(東段)
South Island Line (East)
擬議北港島線 圖例 Legend:
Proposed North Island Line
現有鐵路 Existing Railway Lines
前南丫石礦場 近期通車的鐵路 Railway Lines recently commissioned
現有主要幹道 Existing Strategic Routes
建造中的鐵路項目 Railway Projects under Construction
《鐵路發展策略2014》 建議的鐵路計劃 (示意走線)
Railway Schemes Recommended in RDS2014 (Indicative Alignment)
建議鐵路站 Proposed railway station
 附件5 Annex 5
香港2030+下建議的概念性空間框架
Proposed Conceptual Spatial Framework under Hong Kong 2030+

擬議運輸走廊 Proposed Transport Corridors