Western Harbour Crossing

The Western Harbour Crossing (abbreviation WHC, 西隧) is a dual 3-lane immersed tube tunnel in Hong Kong. It is the third tunnel to cross Victoria Harbour, linking the newly reclaimed land in West Kowloon with Sai Ying Pun on Hong Kong Island. It was constructed by the Western Harbour Tunnel Company Limited (WHTCL) on a 30 year franchise (1993–2023) build-operate-transfer (BOT) model proposed by the Government.

WHTCL's single largest shareholder is The Crossing-Harbour (Holdings) Limited 港通控股有限公司 SEHK: 0032, holding a 50% stake in WHTCL. Its other shareholders are CITIC Pacific Limited 中信泰富有限公司 SEHK: 0267 and Kerry Properties Limited 嘉里建設有限公司 SEHK: 0683 which hold 35% and 15% effective interests in WHTCL respectively through a joint venture company.

The Western Harbour Crossing is part of the Airport Core Programme which was a comprehensive set of infrastructure projects associated with the airport at Chek Lap Kok. The tunnel carries on the Route 3 designation from the West Kowloon Highway, and connects to Route 4 on Hong Kong Island.

Problems with the Tunnel

The Western Harbour Crossing is known in Hong Kong for the high tolls charged to users. With tolls ranging from HKD 23-$115, it is much more expensive than the nearby government owned Cross Harbour Tunnel, which tolls range from HKD 8-$30. Therefore, much of the traffic that would normally go though the Western Harbour Crossing has now switched to the Cross Harbour Tunnel to save money on tolls. This Combined with the traffic that would normally go through the Eastern Harbour Crossing, congestion on the Cross Harbour Tunnel is extreme. Recently there have been calls for lower tolls at the Western Harbour Crossing by letting the Government of Hong Kong buy back the tunnel from the current owners of the tunnel, WHTCL, so that it can control tolls and ease traffic congestion in the Cross Harbour Tunnel area. However the consultant hired by the Government to find a solution to the traffic problem did not suggest the Western Harbour Crossing have lower tolls. The consultants said that if the tolls were lowered and much more traffic volume, there would be a severe jam on the exit to Route 4 (Hong Kong) because traffic jams are already bad there during rush hour. This solution would only be possible when the construction of the Central-Wan Chai Bypass is completed.

Transport

Bus routes which use the crossing:

• Kowloon Motor Bus/New World First Bus: 904, 905, 914, 914X, 948, 948P
• New World First Bus: 970, 970X, 971
• Citybus: A10, A11, E11, A12, 930, 962, 962A, 962B, 962C, 962S, 962X, X962, 967, 967X, 969, 969A, 969B, 969P, 969X, 973, 973P
• Kowloon Motor Bus: 373A, 934, 935, 960, 960A, 960P, 960S, 961, 968
• Overnights: N962, N969, N970

See also

• List of tunnels and bridges in Hong Kong

External links

• Official site