Last week, HK Chief Executive John Lee visited BYD Auto in Shenzhen which may have a solution to the long neglected problem of moving residents (who are now moving in) up and down Hong Kong’s old runway at Kai Tak. Until 2020, they were expecting a monorail. They currently have only a puny bus and minibus service. A quarter of a century after the old airport closed, the government needs to make up its mind, both because current connectivity is plainly inadequate and so as to be seen to be keeping its promises.
Certain residents of HK island rarely venture across to the Dark Side (except to their tailor or to Chungking Mansions, of course) but now the transport engineers among them should make the trip to Kowloon – side armed, as they are, with two solutions that have been successful on the island for 100+ years:
- Contain costs by not elevating a rail line but run at grade mingling with other traffic like conventional trams;
- Narrow the corridor needed by running a single line with a passing loop like the Peak Tram – or a more complex variation thereof as the route is longer.
- And in passing, as it were, make sure to include the beleaguered Overseas Passenger Terminal which needs to be connected to anywhere really.
This is not a new issue – see previous commentary:
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