Trial Runs Begin On Part Of New MTR Line

MTR bosses said trial runs on part of the scandal-plagued Shatin-Central Link were beginning on Monday, with tests carried out between the Tai Wai and Kai Tak stations.

The government announced over the summer that this section of the new line will open in the first quarter of next year. Media reports said January 5 has been slated as the opening date, but Transport Secretary Frank Chan said on Monday that he had no knowledge of this.

The MTR Corporation said the trial runs will include getting staff ready for the new service and testing station facilities, with Diamond Hill and another new stop, Hin Keng, also on this stretch of line.

The HK$99 billion Shatin-Central Link, which has five new stations in total, will eventually link up Tai Wai, on the Ma On Shan Line, with the East Rail and West Rail interchange of Hung Hom. As well as this 11-kilometre line, a second phase will bring a six-kilometre link between Hung Hom and Admiralty.

But a construction scandal emerged last year involving Hung Hom Station and reinforcement works are being carried out to address concerns of shoddy practices – including steel support bars that were incorrectly fitted.

The extra work means the Kai Tak to Hung Hom section of the link is not expected to open until late 2021, more than two years later than originally scheduled.

No date has been set for the opening of the Hung Hom to Admiralty section of the line, with work continuing on a new station near the Convention and Exhibition Centre in Wan Chai.