Eastern Harbour Crossing
History
Initially, the Government of Hong Kong had planned to build a bridge across the eastern portion of the harbor but due to fears of it blocking planes landing Kai Tak airport, this was shelved in favour of a tunnel.
In 1986, the government gave New Hong Kong Tunnel the right to run the tunnel on a 30-year franchisee with the lease expiring in August 2016. The tunnel features two components, a road part and a rail part:
- The road part of the tunnel is branded by the operator as the Eastern Harbour Tunnel, although the government refers to the tunnel itself as the Eastern Harbour Crossing. The tunnel is governed by the Eastern Harbour Crossing Ordinance. The road part links the Island Eastern Corridor in Hong Kong Island, Lei Yue Mun Road, Tseung Kwan O Tunnel, Tseung Kwan O——Lam Tin Tunnel and the Kwun Tong Bypass in Kowloon East.
- The rail part, lying to the southeast of the road part, runs between Quarry Bay and Yau Tong stations of the MTR Tseung Kwan O line.
The Chinese investment group CITIC Pacific has an interestin both parts, controlling the road part (71% stake) and has a 50% stake in the rail part. CITIC also controls 50% of the Western Harbour Tunnel Company. The general contractor was Kumagai Gumi, and the consulting company was Hyder Consulting Ltd.
Tunnel tolls
Tolls are collected manually or electronically in both directions at the toll plaza on the Cha Kwo Ling side.
| Category | Vehicle | Toll ($) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Motorcycle | 13 |
| 2 | Private car | 25 |
| Taxi | ||
| 3 | Public light bus | 38 |
| Private light bus | ||
| 4 | Light goods vehicle (less than 5.5 tonnes) | |
| 5 | Medium goods vehicle (5.5 to 24 tonnes) | 50 |
| 6 | Heavy goods vehicle (more than 24 tonnes) | 75 |
| 7 | Single-decker bus | 50 |
| 8 | Double-decker bus | 75 |
| Additional axle | 25 |