The Shatin to Central Link

Q1

The Shatin to Central Link(SCL) have been constructing for a long time, its expected completion is in 2021. It brings some benefits and costs in different aspects.

To Hong Kong citizens, since the construction is really costly, Hong Kong citizens may somehow contribute to the construction cost through paying a fare. But after completion, this link will make citizens’ journey smoother so the travelling time of citizens can be shortened by sharing the passenger load on East Rail line and Kwun Tong line. Also, this link can provide railway services to the citizens who are living in the area without services by MTR now.

To the economy, SCL can develop the income from tourists, since it makes the tourist easier to get to different view spots along the line, so it is able to grow the tourism and commercial activities. In addition, it can bring a rise in the value of buildings and properties along the line.

To the environment, although it has had a large damage to nature and produced so much noise to the area along the line during construction, in future operation SCL can reduce the air pollution effectively since the trains are operated by electricity which is not emitting any pollutant. SCL can also reduce noise pollution via reducing road traffic.

To the bus company, after the completion of SCL, some passengers would take railway instead of the bus it may bring bus company some losses in the fare income. However, bus company can still gain some benefits from this new line. Since buses can carry a lot of passengers it means the buses should spend corresponding a long time for the passenger to climb aboard and alight, also take the congestion problem of road traffic in Hong Kong into account. Those factors make the buses often delay, eventually, passengers would be dissatisfied with the buses service. Thus the operation of SCL is able to share the passenger load with bus company so the time for alighting and boarding of passengers can be reduced then the buses can arrive destination on time easier. Therefore, although the SCL would decrease the fare income of bus company, it can instead improve the reliance of passenger to buses service.