CUHK
News Centre

A telephone survey was conducted from 19 to 24 February 2016 by Hong Kong Institute of Asia-Pacific Studies, The Chinese University of Hong Kong to gauge public views on Hong Kong Express Rail Link Project.  805 respondents aged 18 or above were successfully interviewed, with a response rate of 41.6%.  The sampling error is + or –3.45% at a confidence level of 95%.

Major findings are summarized as follows:

The Hong Kong government has recently requested the Legislative Council for extra funding of about HK$19 billion to complete the construction of Hong Kong Express Rail Link. When respondents were asked if they support this funding proposal, more than half (55.0%) agreed while 36.0% objected to it. Among those who approved of the proposal, about two-fifth (42.0%) said that the most important reason for their support was that “it is a waste of resources if we stop the construction of Express Rail Link which is mostly completed”. Other popular reasons included: “it is favorable to Hong Kong’s economic development” (26.9%); “it enables more convenient transportation between Hong Kong and the mainland China” (13.8%) and “it facilitates the social and economic integration between Hong Kong and the mainland China.” (11.3%).

Among those who opposed this funding proposal, the most common reason was that “it is not necessary for Hong Kong to build the Express Rail Link” (44.8%). Other reasons included: “the issue of co-location arrangement has not been resolved” (27.6%), and “lack of confidence in the Hong Kong government” (10.0%).

This survey has also asked about respondents’ opinion on the arrangement of cross-border checkpoints. If the immigration authorities of both Hong Kong and the mainland China set up their checkpoints inside the West Kowloon Terminal, about two-fifth (41.2%) of the respondents agreed to such an arrangement, whereas 36.4% disagreed and 17.6% said “in-between”. If the checkpoints are separately located in their respective territories, close to half (47.9%) of the respondents agreed while 23.3% disagreed and another 23.3% reported “in-between”. When asked if they accept inspection procedures to be carried out inside train compartments, more than one-third (36.6%) agreed, but another one-third (32.7%) disagreed and 22.6% answered “in-between”. None of the three proposals can get the overwhelming support from the respondents.

Meanwhile, questions on the downside of the aforementioned arrangements were put to respondents as well. First, if the co-location of checkpoints is instituted, mainland officials in customs, immigration and quarantine can exercise their power within the territory of Hong Kong, and this will undermine “One Country, Two Systems”. More than two-fifth (44.0%) of the respondents agreed, whereas 32.4% disagreed and 17.4% said “in-between”. Second, if the checkpoints are separated, travelers will have to get off the train for another inspection, which is inconvenient and will reduce their benefits in using the Express Rail Link. About half (50.3%) of the respondents agreed with this view although 26.3% disagreed and 17.8% answered “in-between”. Third, if inspection is to be carried out inside train compartments during the journey, there will not be enough time to complete the inspection as the train runs very fast. Nearly half (46.9%) of the respondents agreed, but 23.7% of respondents disagreed and 18.8% reported “in-between”.

Our survey also shows that if the Express Rail Link is completed and starts operation, about one quarter (25.9%) of the respondents do not have interest to use it. Over two thirds expressed a certain level of interest (27.7%, 14.3% and 16.0% of the respondents respectively replied that they were somewhat interested, fairly interested and very interested).