TKO Tunnel Operations to Begin Next Month

The new Tseung Kwan O-Lam Tin Tunnel, opening on Dec. 11, will be included in five bus routes, reports local news outlet RTHK.

The five bus routes will run along the 3.8-kilometre connection and 1.8-kilometre bridge on peak hours on weekdays for now, with an additional four routes to be added later.

An assistant commissioner for transport, Honson Yuen was quoted as saying “There are two stages to introduce bus routes via [the] Tseung Kwan O-Lam Tin Tunnel. We will look at the traffic situation to decide [the] exact timing to introduce the four routes going via [the] Tseung Kwan O-Lam Tin Tunnel in the second stage.”

The HK$5.6 billion Cross Bay Link project is the first viaduct in the city to feature carriageways, footpaths, and bicycle tracks.

According to authorities interviewed for the RTHK report, the new link will be able to divert up to 40% of vehicles from the existing Tseung Kwan O Tunnel and reduce transport time by 20 minutes during peak hours.

In a separate RTHK article, Sai Kung district councillor Christine Fong, commented on the current traffic congestion in Tseung Kwan O as “horrible”, citing traffic jams from Kowloon East all the way through to the Kwun Tong highway.

“I think the government can be more aggressive with adding bus routes through the new tunnel. They should have more buses going through this tunnel, even to Hong Kong Island, or Kwai Chung, or even further.”