Eastern Harbour Crossing

The Eastern Harbour Crossing (), abbreviated as "EHC" () is a combined road-rail tunnel that crosses beneath Victoria Harbour in Hong Kong. Opened on 21 September 1989, it is the second harbour-crossing tunnel built and the longest amongst the three. It connects Quarry Bay on Hong Kong Island and Cha Kwo Ling in Kowloon East.

History

Initially, the Government of Hong Kong had plans to build a bridge across the eastern portion of the harbour but due to fears of the bridge blocking planes landing at Kai Tak airport, this was shelved in favour of a tunnel.

In 1986, the New Hong Kong Tunnel Company Limited won the bidding for this contract, and was given the right to run the road tunnel on a 30-year franchisee, and the train tunnel on an 18-years-and-6 months franchisee counting from the first rail operating date. Construction started on 25 September 1986, and was commissioned on 21 September 1989, four months earlier than the original planned finishing date. The first person to cross the tunnel was the then-Governor of Hong Kong Sir David Wilson.

The tunnel was officially opened by the then Prince of Wales Charles on the 8th of November of the same year during his and Princess of Wales Diana's Royal Tour to Hong Kong.

In February 2008, the 18-years-and-6 months franchise for the train tunnel expired and was transferred to the government. The government continued leasing the tunnel to the MTR Corporation until 2013, when it was acquired by the MTR Corporation for only HK$1,000, a deal made in the 2000 when the MTR Corporation was undergoing its partial privatisation process.

On 7 August 2016, the 30-year franchisee for the road tunnel expired and the ownership was transferred to the government. The ''Eastern Harbour Crossing Ordinance'' was repealed alongside the franchisee's expiry and is instead replaced by the ''Road Tunnels (Government) Ordinance'' as the tunnel is now owned by the government. Pacific Infrastructure Limited was granted a new contract to continue operating the tunnel.

On 27 August 2023, the HKeToll was implemented for the Eastern Harbour Crossing. The toll plaza on the Kowloon side was subsequently demolished gradually.

Tunnel Composition

The tunnel consists of two components, the road part and the 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 was governed by the
Eastern Harbour Crossing Ordinance
' until 7 August 2016, which it was repealed when the 30-year franchisee expired. It is now instead governed by the
Road Tunnels (Government) Ordinance
' as it is now owned by the government. The road part links the Island Eastern Corridor on 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. It is owned and operated by the MTR Corporation.

Usage

The Eastern Harbour Crossing is the second most-used tunnel in Hong Kong.

Tunnel Tolls

Tolls are collected by HKeToll in both directions on both sides.

Current Tolls

Historical Tolls

Interchanges

Transport

, there are 46 bus routes passing through the tunnel.

Controversies

In June 2005, CITIC decided to raise the toll for using Eastern Harbour Crossing from HK$15 to HK$25 for private vehicles and up to 67% for other classes of vehicles, under the fare adjustment mechanism derived from the build-operate-transfer (BOT) model. This increase aroused criticisms that the model was detrimental to the public interest, with the increase shifting more traffic to the already congested Cross-Harbour Tunnel.

Notes

See also

* Vehicular harbour crossings in Hong Kong
* List of tunnels and bridges in Hong Kong
* Megaproject

References

External links

Official site

{{Victoria Harbour

Toll tunnels in Hong Kong
Railway tunnels in Hong Kong
Quarry Bay
Cha Kwo Ling
Yau Tong
Victoria Harbour
CITIC Group
1989 establishments in Hong Kong
Route 2 (Hong Kong)
Road tunnels in Hong Kong
Undersea tunnels in Asia
Immersed tube tunnels in Hong Kong
Tunnels completed in 1989