New Project Works To Affect East Rail Services

MTR passengers have been told that there will be no train services between Mong Kok East and Hung Hom stations on the East Rail Line on 10 Sundays in the coming months as workers lay new tracks for the Shatin-Central Link.

Trains won't be running between the two stations on January 10 and February 21, and on eight other Sundays between April and October.

MTR officials said workers are going to lay an 875-metre-long track and install a new signaling system and overhead cables to connect Mong Kok East Station to new platforms in Hung Hom.

From there, trains will then cross the harbour and terminate in Admiralty. This part of the rail network is expected to open in the first quarter of 2022.

The corporation's projects construction division general manager James Chow said the MTR has already carried out some advance works after service hours.

However, he said some of the more complex works can't be carried out in the two-hour window after the MTR shuts down for the day.

"This work is required to be carried out in sequence. So between the Sunday closure, we have to do a bit of adjustment and testing before we can proceed to the next Sunday work.

"That’s why we have selected 10 Sundays in the next 10 months to do the work, rather than [doing it] in 10 consecutive Sundays," Chow said.

He added: "The challenge is we have to make sure the rail service will resume on the next day, which we are very confident about it as we have previous experience in these track modification works on existing railway."

The rail operator said shuttle buses will run between Kowloon Tong and Hung Hom stations when the services are suspended, but appealed to passengers to plan their trip in advance.

The Shatin-Central Link is Hong Kong's most expensive rail project ever with a price tag of HK$90 billion. It has also been hit with delays due to a construction scandal at Hung Hom Station.