The Shing Mun Tunnels are a system of tunnels and viaducts in the

New Territories The New Territories (N.T., Traditional Chinese characters, Chinese: ) is one of the three areas of Hong Kong, alongside Hong Kong Island and Kowloon. It makes up 86.2% of Hong Kong's territory, and contains around half of the population of H ...

, Hong Kong connecting the

new towns A planned community, planned city, planned town, or planned settlement is any community that was carefully planned from its inception and is typically constructed on previously undeveloped land. This contrasts with settlements that evolve ...

Tsuen Wan Tsuen Wan (formerly also spelled Tsun Wan) is a New towns of Hong Kong, town built on a bay in the New Territories West (constituency), western New Territories of Hong Kong, opposite Tsing Yi, Tsing Yi Island across Rambler Channel. The market ...

to the west and

Sha Tin Sha Tin, also spelt Shatin, is a neighbourhood along Shing Mun River in the eastern New Territories, Hong Kong. Administratively, it is part of the Sha Tin District. Sha Tin is one of the neighbourhoods of the Sha Tin New Town project. The new ...

to the east. They are a part of Route 9 and the Tsuen Wan entrance is the reset point (As Route 9 is apparently a loop) of Route 9. Construction started on 11 February 1987 and the tunnels opened on 20 April 1990. They are made up of three sections, each with twin two-lane tunnels (one each way). The westerly pair passes through Smuggler's Ridge near

Shing Mun Reservoir Shing Mun Reservoir is a reservoir in Hong Kong. It is located in Shing Mun, the area between Tsuen Wan and Sha Tin, in the New Territories. Administratively, it is located within the boundaries of Tsuen Wan District. History Human life i ...

, where it gets its name from; the easterly pair passes through Needle Hill and is linked to the westerly pair by two viaducts over

Lower Shing Mun Reservoir Lower Shing Mun Reservoir is a reservoir outside Shing Mun Country Park and the downstream of the dam of the Shing Mun Reservoir in the Sha Tin District of Hong Kong. Two vehicular bridges span over the valley between the Shing Mun Reservo ...

. The

toll Toll may refer to: Transportation * Toll (fee) a fee charged for the use of a road or waterway ** Toll road, a type of road which for which payment is required for passage ** Road pricing, the modern practice of charging for road use ** Road to ...

plaza and bus interchange are located outside the Tsuen Wan end of the tunnel. The tunnels lead to Cheung Pei Shan Road and connect Wo Yi Hop Interchange in Tsuen Wan, and

Shing Mun Tunnel Road Shing may refer to: * Shing (Hainish Cycle), a fictional alien race in the Hainish Cycle of novels and short stories by Ursula K. Le Guin, especially in ''City of Illusions''. * Shing (surname), spelling of various Chinese surnames * Shing, Tajiki ...

in the east which links Tai Wai Road and ends at

Tai Po Road Tai Po Road ( Chinese: 大埔公路) is the second longest road in Hong Kong (after Castle Peak Road). It spans from Sham Shui Po in Kowloon to Tai Po in the New Territories of Hong Kong. Initially, the road was named Frontier Road. Location ...

. The Shing Mun Tunnels are currently managed by Greater Lucky (H.K.) Company Limited.

History

The Shing Mun Tunnels were formally named as such on 19 May 1987, when the name was approved by the Sha Tin District Board. The tunnels were formally inaugurated by Governor David Wilson on 19 April 1990. The Hong Kong Government awarded a number of contracts for the

construction work Construction are processes involved in delivering buildings, infrastructure, industrial facilities, and associated activities through to the end of their life. It typically starts with planning, financing, and design that continues until the a ...

, including one awarded to Philips Hong Kong Ltd. Philips' completion of the work was delayed, incurring

damages At common law, damages are a remedy in the form of a monetary award to be paid to a claimant as compensation for loss or injury. To warrant the award, the claimant must show that a breach of duty has caused foreseeable loss. To be recognized at ...

due to the government. The wording of the contract in relation to

liquidated damages Liquidated damages, also referred to as liquidated and ascertained damages (LADs), are damages whose amount the parties designate during the formation of a contract for the injured party to collect as compensation upon a specific breach (e.g., lat ...

was addressed in various courts and the interpretation of the wording was ultimately addressed by the

Privy Council of the United Kingdom The Privy Council, formally His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, is a privy council, formal body of advisers to the sovereign of the United Kingdom. Its members, known as privy counsellors, are mainly senior politicians who are curre ...

, who ruled in favour of the government.Judicial Committee of the Privy Council
Philips Hong Kong Ltd v. The Attorney General of Hong Kong Co (Hong Kong) [1993
/nowiki> UKPC 3a">/nowiki>1993">Philips Hong Kong Ltd v. The Attorney General of Hong Kong Co (Hong Kong) [1993
/nowiki> UKPC 3a delivered on 9 February 1993, accessed on 15 February 2025 This ruling was one of the last Hong Kong legal cases addressed by the Privy Council before the handover of Hong Kong, handover of Hong Kong to China in 1997.

References

External links

* {{NTTaxi Toll tunnels in Hong Kong Road tunnels in Hong Kong Route 9 (Hong Kong) Tsuen Wan District Kwai Tsing District Sha Tin District Shing Mun Tunnels completed in 1990 1990 establishments in Hong Kong Extra areas operated by NT taxis

History

See also

References

External links