Hong Kong launches tender for 7 km East Kowloon green transit system for steep urban districts

Hong Kong has launched an open tender for the Smart and Green Mass Transit System in East Kowloon, marking a major step toward delivering a new 7 km urban transit corridor through one of the city’s most challenging hillside districts.

The project will link Choi Hung East Station and Yau Tong East Station, with direct connections to the existing MTR network at Choi Hung and Yau Tong. The alignment will pass through Choi Wan, Shun Lee, Shun On, Sau Mau Ping, Po Tat, Ma Yau Tong and Lam Tin North, serving more than 300,000 residents and key community facilities such as United Christian Hospital.

The system will include approximately 6 km of elevated guideway, a 1 km tunnel beneath Black Hill and nine elevated stations. Construction is expected to start in 2027, with completion and commissioning targeted in or before 2033.

The East Kowloon scheme is technically significant because it must serve dense hillside communities where road based movement is often constrained by gradients, limited space and traffic congestion. The tunnel beneath Black Hill is one of the project’s key civil engineering elements, allowing the route to pass through difficult terrain while reducing surface impacts.

The elevated guideway will also require careful integration with existing roads, utilities, buildings and pedestrian routes. In a compact urban environment like Hong Kong, station design is not only about train access. It must also manage vertical circulation, public realm space, emergency access, structural clearance, foundations and long term maintenance.

A major part of the project is the provision of about 20 barrier free pedestrian links. These will connect stations with surrounding communities and improve movement between uphill and downhill areas, including Sau Mau Ping and the Anderson Road development area.

The project will be delivered through a 20 year Build Operate Transfer franchise. The successful bidder will finance, design, construct, operate and maintain the system, while forming a Hong Kong incorporated company for delivery.

To support commercial viability, the government will grant property development rights at three sites: the Ma Yau Tong depot site, the Kai Tak site (comprising two plots) and a site at Cha Kwo Ling Road. This links transport investment with land development, a model already familiar in Hong Kong’s rail planning.

Tenderers will be assessed using a two envelope approach, with technical proposals carrying 60 percent of the weighting and financial proposals 40 percent. Technical submissions will need to address suitable transit technology for steep gradients, smart station design, construction innovation and future extension provisions toward Tsz Wan Shan and Po Lam.

The East Kowloon project shows how modern urban transit is becoming more than a rail alignment. It combines elevated structures, tunnelling, pedestrian connectivity, property development and smart operations into one integrated infrastructure system.