The Construction of the West Rail of the Kowloon Canton Rail Corporation, Hong Kong

A 30.5km railway will soon be completed that links the Northwestern part of the territory with the metro area of Hong Kong. This HK$46 billion investment in the West Rail projects will form a major railway strategic and territorial development for the coming 20 years of Hong Kong. There are nine stations provided within the alignment of the West Rail, 6 of which are located in the northwestern part of the New Territory within a stretch of about 15km. The railway comprises of 5.6km atgrade or surface structures, 11.5km tunnels, and 13.4km elevated sections in the form of viaduct. Other major features of the project include the construction of twomajor tunnels, one 1.8km section formed using tunnel boring machine, the remaining sections formed by drill and blast method; the formation of 8 hectares of land outside Tsuen Wan by reclamation to provide room for a new station; the formation of a depot facility in Pat Heung with sufficient land reserve that can support the development of the area in future; 6 station structures with interchanging facilities to the existing mass transit and light rail networks; as well as the introduction of stringent control to the country and rural habitat in the environmental sensitive area of the northwestern territory. This paper aims to provide an overall highlight of the project from the construction prospective, in particular to demonstrate the unique arrangement that employed to tackle the difficulties in the construction of each major section within this new railway network.