Report of the Select Committee to Inquire into the
Background of and Reasons for the Delay of the
Construction of the Hong Kong section of the
Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link

July 2016



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TABLE OF CONTENTS



  Page

Part I Establishment of the Select Committee and its Work

 

Chapter 1 Introduction 1 - 5
Background 1 - 4
Establishment of the Select Committee 4 - 5

Chapter 2 Matters relating to the Select Committee 6 - 26
Membership of the Select Committee 6
Terms of reference, areas of study and work plan of the Select Committee 6 - 10
Practice and procedure 10 - 14
Difficulties encountered by and limitations of the Select Committee 14 - 25
Presentation of the report 25 - 26

Part II Findings

 

Chapter 3 Planning and Site Investigation Stage (May 2000 to January 2010) 27 - 49
Key dates for the "Planning and Site Investigation Stage" 27 - 28
Background information on the Hong Kong section of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link 28 - 30
The Project framework 30 - 39
Observations 40 - 49

Chapter 4 Early Construction Stage
(January 2010 to April 2013)
50 - 75
Key dates for the "Early Construction Stage" 50 - 51
Chronology of developments 51 - 60
Observations 60 - 75

Chapter 5 Difficult Stage
(May to October 2013)
76 - 102
Key dates for the "Difficult Stage" 76 - 78
Chronology of developments 78 - 87
Observations 87 - 102

Chapter 6 Very Difficult Stage
(November 2013 to April 2014)
103 - 130
Key dates for the "Very Difficult Stage" 103 - 105
Chronology of developments 105 - 115
Observations 115 - 130

Part III Conclusions and Recommendations

 

Chapter 7 Conclusions 131 - 147

Chapter 8 Recommendations 148 - 152

Acknowledgement 153

Signatures of members of the Select Committee 155 - 156

Abbreviations 159 - 162

Appendices

Appendix 1 The Government's press releases on "Transcript of remarks by Secretary for Transport and Housing" issued on 15 April 2014

165 - 166

Appendix 2 The MTR Corporation Limited ("the Corporation")'s press release on "Revised Programme for Hong Kong Section of Express Rail Link Project" issued on 15 April 2014

167 - 168

Appendix 3 Membership and terms of reference of the Independent Board Committee and Independent Expert Panel

169 - 170

Appendix 4 Petition jointly presented by Hon WU Chi-wai and Hon Charles Peter MOK

171

Appendix 5

Practice and Procedure of the Select Committee

172 - 182

Appendix 6

Written reply dated 18 February 2015 from the Highways Department ("HyD") to the Select Committee

183 - 214

Appendix 7

Written reply dated 18 February 2015 from the Transport and Housing Bureau ("THB") to the Select Committee

215 - 235

Appendix 8

Written reply dated 5 January 2015 from the Corporation to the Select Committee

236 - 239

Appendix 9

Written reply dated 5 February 2015 from the Corporation to the Select Committee

240 - 241

Appendix 10

Written reply dated 12 February 2015 from the Corporation to the Select Committee

242 - 243

Appendix 11 Written reply dated 17 March 2015 from THB to the Select Committee

244 - 247

Appendix 12 Written reply dated 4 January 2016 from THB to the Select Committee

248 - 249

Appendix 13 Written reply dated 16 October 2015 from the Corporation to the Select Committee

250

Appendix 14 Written reply dated 21 December 2015 from the Corporation to the Select Committee

251

Appendix 15

Written reply dated 8 January 2016 from THB to the Select Committee

252

Appendix 16

List of witnesses who attended the Select Committee to Inquire into the Background of and Reasons for the Delay of the Construction of the Hong Kong section of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link

253 - 254

Appendix 17

Flowchart on the Government's monitoring mechanism on the construction of the Hong Kong section of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link project

255

Appendix 18

Membership and terms of reference of Project Supervision Committee, Project Coordination Meeting and Contract Review Meeting

256

Appendix 19

Membership and terms of reference of the Project Control Group of the Corporation

257

Appendix 20

Written reply dated 23 December 2015 from Jacobs China Limited to the Select Committee

258 - 262

Appendix 21 Written reply dated 9 June 2015 from HyD to the Select Committee

263 - 268

Appendix 22 Written reply dated 21 December 2015 from the Corporation to the Select Committee

269 - 278

Appendix 23 Written reply dated 26 June 2015 from THB to the Select Committee

279 - 286

Appendix 24 Slide presented at the Subcommittee on Matters Relating to Railways meeting on 5 May 2014

287

Appendix 25 Slide presented at the Subcommittee on Matters Relating to Railways meeting on 22 November 2013

288

Appendix 26 Written reply dated 15 January 2016 from THB to the Select Committee

289 - 291

Lists of written evidence/documents

 

A. Evidence/documents provided by the Government

296

B. Evidence/documents provided by the Corporation

297

C. Evidence/documents provided by Jacobs China Limited

298

D. Evidence/documents provided by witnesses

299 - 300

E. Documents referred to by the Select Committee

301 - 303

Minutes of proceedings

307 - 349



Minutes of evidence of public hearings

Table of Contents

No. Dates of public hearings Names of witnesses

1 24 March 2015 Mr Peter LAU Ka-keung
Director of Highways
2 21 April 2015 Mr Peter LAU Ka-keung
Director of Highways
3 28 April 2015 Mr YAU Shing-mu
Under Secretary for Transport and Housing
4 26 May 2015 Mr Joseph LAI Yee-tak
Permanent Secretary for Transport and Housing (Transport)
5 2 June 2015 Mr WAI Chi-sing
Former Director of Highways
6 15 July 2015 Mr Lincoln LEONG Kwok-kuen
Chief Executive Officer
MTR Corporation Limited
7 20 October 2015 Mr Henry CHAN Chi-yan
Principal Government Engineer/Railway Development
Highways Department

Mr TAM Hon-choi
Government Engineer/Railway Development 2
Highways Department
8 3 November 2015 Mr Lincoln LEONG Kwok-kuen
Chief Executive Officer
MTR Corporation Limited
9 10 November 2015 Mr Anthony J W KING
Project Director
Jacobs China Limited

Mr William NG Siu-kee
Project Manager
Jacobs China Limited
10 15 December 2015 Dr Philco WONG Nai-keung
Projects Director
MTR Corporation Limited

Mr Mark LOMAS
Project Manager - Technical Support
MTR Corporation Limited
11 21 December 2015 Professor Anthony CHEUNG Bing-leung
Secretary for Transport and Housing