{"id":188301,"date":"2010-01-16T14:08:29","date_gmt":"2010-01-16T19:08:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.skyscrapercity.com\/showthread.php?t=1046513"},"modified":"2010-01-16T14:08:29","modified_gmt":"2010-01-16T19:08:29","slug":"hong-kong-accepts-8-6-billion-china-rail-link-budget-update1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/188301","title":{"rendered":"Hong Kong Accepts $8.6 Billion China Rail Link Budget (Update1)"},"content":{"rendered":"
Hong Kong Accepts $8.6 Billion China Rail Link Budget (Update1)
\nhttp:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/apps\/news?p…jC6nssgo&pos=6<\/a><\/p>\n

By Wing-Gar Cheng and Wendy Leung<\/p>\n

Jan. 16 (Bloomberg) — Hong Kong lawmakers approved funding for a HK$66.9 billion ($8.6 billion) train line linking the city with China\u0092s high-speed rail network. <\/p>\n

Lawmakers voted 31 to 21 to ratify the project, which had been delayed twice amid objections about the cost and homes that will be destroyed in the rural New Territories, said Emily Lau, chairwoman of the finance committee. <\/p>\n

The train line will plug Hong Kong into China\u0092s network by 2015, cutting travel times and deepening Hong Kong\u0092s links with the world\u0092s fastest-growing major economy. The railway is one of the 10 infrastructure projects that Hong Kong\u0092s government plans to help boost its economy. <\/p>\n

\u0093We support this project because the economic benefits it can bring are very important to Hong Kong,\u0094 lawmaker Paul Tse said in a legislative council meeting today. \u0093Hong Kong needs to look into the future and consider the jobs that the project would create, the tourism opportunities with more people traveling between Hong Kong and China.\u0094 <\/p>\n

Hong Kong\u0092s government plans to construct an underground terminal in the city\u0092s West Kowloon district, across Victoria Harbor from Hong Kong Island. Hong Kong-based MTR Corp. will construct the link at a cost of HK$2.57 billion per kilometer. <\/p>\n

Demonstrators chanted slogans and waved banners outside the council building, demanding that the government review the project as it will cost too much and destroy village homes in the rural New Territories. <\/p>\n

Protests, Clashes <\/p>\n

Radio Television Hong Kong said as many as 10,000 demonstrators had gathered outside the building. Some protestors clashed with the police as they tried to break through metal barriers to get into the building, local television footage showed. <\/p>\n

The police\u0092s public relations branch wasn\u0092t able to immediately comment on the protest, or give an estimate on the number of demonstrators. <\/p>\n

The train will travel at speeds of up to 350 kilometers per hour (217 miles an hour), cutting the travel time from Hong Kong to Beijing by two-thirds to eight hours, the government said in a paper presented to lawmakers. <\/p>\n

The high-speed railway will save the Hong Kong public 40 million hours per year, generating an annual economic rate of return of 9 percent annually, according to the government\u0092s paper to the Legislative Council. <\/p>\n

Hong Kong\u0092s government believes the project will generate a profit and it won\u0092t need to rely on bank loans for funding, Eva Cheng, secretary for transport and housing, told lawmakers today. <\/p>\n

Start Construction <\/p>\n

\u0093We\u0092re looking to start construction as soon as possible and this is also the wish of the majority of the Hong Kong people,\u0094 Cheng said at a press briefing after the meeting. \u0093We will monitor work on the project very closely.\u0094 <\/p>\n

The railway is one of 10 infrastructure projects that Hong Kong\u0092s government plans to help boost its economy. It also intends to construct a bridge linking Hong Kong with the gambling enclave of Macau and the city of Zhuhai across the border from Macau. <\/p>\n

\u0093The government still hasn\u0092t yet given any details on how it will ensure the project will generate profit,\u0094 lawmaker Cyd Ho, who voted against the funding, said. \u0093I hope that the government won\u0092t return to the legislative council again to seek additional funding.\u0094<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hong Kong Accepts $8.6 Billion China Rail Link Budget (Update1) http:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/apps\/news?p…jC6nssgo&pos=6 By Wing-Gar Cheng and Wendy Leung Jan. 16 (Bloomberg) — Hong Kong lawmakers approved funding for a HK$66.9 billion ($8.6 billion) train line linking the city with China\u0092s high-speed rail network. Lawmakers voted 31 to 21 to ratify the project, which had been delayed […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3203,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-188301","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/188301","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3203"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=188301"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/188301\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=188301"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=188301"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=188301"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}