THE much-heralded HK$67 billion (US$8.64 billion) high-speed railway linking Hong Kong with Guangzhou via Shenzhen — the most expensive ever built per kilometer in Hong Kong — has been delayed by up to two years due to “unforeseen difficulties.”

    MTR chiefs blamed the delay on damage to a tunnel boring machine suffered during last month’s heavy rain and problems with the construction of the West Kowloon terminus at the Hong Kong end of the 26-kilometer underground link.

    Transport secretary Professor Anthony Cheung Bing-leung — an MTR board member — insisted he only learned of the extent of the delay at the weekend and was “totally caught by surprise.”

    The MTR said the delays meant construction would not be finished until 2016, with services starting in 2017. When announced, the project was to be finished next year.

    Last night, critics attacked the MTR and the government for a lack of transparency.

    MTR network projects director Chew Tai-chong said last month’s storm had flooded a construction site near Tsat Sing Kong and Tai Kong Po in Yuen Long. The tunnel boring machine was seriously damaged and an investigation was looking into whether to repair it or to excavate the remaining tunnel by other means. Either way, construction of that part of the project would be prolonged by nine months, Chew said.

    Chew said the MTR had spent two weeks pumping water from the tunnel, and had realized the extent of the problem only recently. He also attributed the delay to complicated conditions at West Kowloon and complex geology at the cross-border section beneath a protected wetland.

    The MTR refused to disclose the length of the construction delay at the terminus or the extra costs. Chew said only that the additional costs would be covered by a HK$4.4 billion contingency fund. There was also no full explanation of the delay beyond the nine months caused by the damaged boring machine. (SD-Agencies)