The Northern Link (NOL) Spur Line railway connecting Hong Kong and Shenzhen has moved a step closer after the Hong Kong government approved the scheme last week.
The NOL Spur Line will be an underground railway of approximately 6km, with a 5km section in Hong Kong and a 1km section in Shenzhen. It will be Hong Kong’s third direct cross-boundary railway link.
The new line will start from San Tin Station on the Main Line and include three new stations – two in the Hong Kong section at Chau Tau of the San Tin Technopole and the Loop, and one at the new Huanggang Port in the Shenzhen section.
Travel time between San Tin and the new Huanggang Port is expected to be only about 11 minutes.
The government has set a target of opening the line by 2034 or earlier and said construction works would begin “as soon as practicable”.
The NOL Project, comprising the NOL Main Line and Spur Line, aligns with Hong Kong’s National 15th Five-Year Plan Outline that calls for accelerating the development of the Northern Metropolis and promoting the co-ordinated development of rail transport.
“Apart from serving the San Tin Technopole and the Loop, the NOL Spur Line will also connect to the new Huanggang Port, linking the metro networks of Hong Kong and Shenzhen,” the government said, adding it would also promote the “hard connectivity” of infrastructure in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.
Following the signing of the Part 1 Project Agreement for the NOL project last year, Hong Kong’s Mass Transit Railway (MTR) has started major advanced works for the Main Line. These include excavation works for the first TBM launch shaft and construction of an electrical substation that will support the large-scale tunnelling works.
