The Sha Tin to Central Link railway has been gazetted and the MTR Corporation will proceed with the detailed design and further planning of the project.
     The 17 km railway will have 10 stations - Tai Wai, Hin Keng, Diamond Hill, Kai Tak, To Kwa Wan, Ma Tau Wai, Ho Man Tin, Hung Hom, northern Wan Chai and Admiralty.
     The railway will run mostly underground and consist of the Tai Wai to Hung Hom Section, which is an extension of the existing Ma On Shan Line from Tai Wai to the West Rail Line via East Kowloon, and the Hung Hom to Admiralty Section, which is an extension of the existing East Rail Line from Hung Hom to Hong Kong Island.
     Passengers will be able to travel from Tai Wai to Diamond Hill and from Hung Hom to Admiralty in five minutes, compared to 17 minutes at present.
     The Government has included, as far as possible, feasible suggestions on the link and expects the statutory consultation process can be completed by early 2012. It will then make a funding application for the railway so construction can start the same year. It is expected to take six years to complete.
     To tie in with other infrastructural projects like Wan Chai Development Phase II and the Central-Wan Chai Bypass, the Hung Hom to Admiralty Section is expected to be completed by 2020.
     The estimated cost for the entire project is more than $60 billion, which exceeds the $38.2 billion estimate in 2007. The increase is mostly due to the significant rise in construction material prices. Plus, the Government has included suggestions by the public into the proposed railway scheme, thereby resulting in additional works costing about $5 billion. The corporation also had to revise the design according to ground investigation information, technical requirements and compliance with fire-safety requirements. The estimated cost for these modifications is $7 billion.