2014-08-25
HKT 19:09
The MTR Corporation says there'll be cost overruns in the construction of the West Island and South Island Lines.
This comes after the rail operator announced a 10 percent increase in the building cost of the high speed rail link to Guangzhou.
It said the construction cost of the West Island line will rise to HK$18.5 billion - up 7.6 percent from its original estimate.
The railway also said the price tag for the South Island Line will reach HK$15.2 billion - an increase of 12.6 percent.
The MTR's acting chief executive Lincoln Leung said the cost overrun of the two lines will be funded internally by the railway operator.
Mr Leung said the government is reviewing the new estimate of the cross-border express line, which now stands at HK$71.5 billion.
He was speaking during the company's interim results announcement.
The Corporation earned HK$7.9 billion during January and June - up 28.5 percent from a year ago.
But excluding property revaluation, underlying profit rose just 3.2 percent to HK$4.4 billion.
Profit from property development during the period slumped by 55 percent to just HK$203 million.
http://m.rthk.hk/news/20140825/1032321.htm
