📋 Tender Overview
The Government today July 17 launches an open tender for the Smart and Green Mass Transit System SGMTS in East Kowloon the East Kowloon Project Tender Reference No HYRD 12026 BP The tender invitation will close at noon on March 12 2027 Friday
With a total length of approximately 7 kilometres the East Kowloon Project comprises elevated and tunnel sections with nine stations The termini namely Choi Hung East Station and Yau Tong East Station will connect to the MTR Choi Hung Station and Yau Tong Station respectively The alignment will pass through Choi Wan Shun Lee Shun On Sau Mau Ping Po Tat Ma Yau Tong and Lam Tin North The construction works for the system are expected to commence in 2027 with completion and commissioning targeted in or before 2033
A spokesperson for the Government said The Government has been embracing a dualinnovation mindset in both policy and technology to press ahead with the East Kowloon Project in full swing Serving over 300 000 residents and community facilities such as the United Christian Hospital along the alignment the project has adopted a peoplecentric approach in formulating the alignment and design Apart from significantly enhancing the connectivity with the railway network and mitigating the impact of road traffic congestion on residents the project will feature 24hour pedestrian walkways at stations to facilitate access Furthermore through approximately 20 sets of pedestrian linkages equipped with barrierfree facilities it will provide more comfortable and convenient routes for travelling between uphill and downhill areas including Sau Mau Ping and the Anderson Road development area
To encourage participation of local Mainland and overseas investors and operators a BuildOperateTransfer model is adopted for selecting a franchisee to finance design construct operate and maintain the system through open tendering Local and nonHong Kong companies meeting the conditions for participation specified in the tender documents are invited to submit tender and if awarded the tender will form an incorporated company in Hong Kong to undertake the East Kowloon Project The Government will provide funding support for the project through granting the property development rights of three sites ie Depot Site at Ma Yau Tong Kai Tak Site which comprises Sites 3E1 and 3E2 in Kai Tak and Cha Kwo Ling Road Site at Cha Kwo Ling Road and near Kwun Tong Road A twoenvelope approach will be adopted in the tender assessment to consider holistically the technical including technical proposals of a suitable type of SGMTS for operation in uphill areas and price proposals of the tenders The weightings for the nonprice proposal and the price proposal are 60 per cent and 40 per cent respectively The successful tenderer will be required to pay a fixed sum to the Government for the grant of the franchise and property development rights of the sites while bearing the responsibilities for implementing and operating the East Kowloon Project
In order to protect the use of public resources the Government has devised several financial control measures to ensure that the future franchisee will fulfil its obligations under the project These measures include conducting financial vetting on the successful tenderer requiring the franchisee to provide guarantees and forbidding the franchisees payment of dividends arising from the project to its shareholders before commissioning of the SGMTS
The spokesperson added In the tender assessment tenderers are encouraged to integrate smart technology elements into station design to provide passengers with highquality travel experience and to provide allweather barrierfree pedestrian connection systems linking the stations with the surrounding communities Tenderers are also encouraged in the tender assessment to adopt innovative construction technologies to shorten the construction period with a view to expediting the completion of the project Furthermore the franchisee is required to provide proposals and make design provisions to ensure that the feasibility of future extensions of the system to Tsz Wan Shan and Po Lam is preserved thereby retaining maximum flexibility for future planning Detailed assessment criteria are set out in the tender documents
During the gazettal period of the East Kowloon Project no public objections were received against the proposed alignment and the scheme was subsequently authorised by the Secretary for Transport and Logistics in August last year This demonstrates that the project received broad support from the public and the local community
Details of the tender notice are available on the Highways Departments website wwwhydgovhkentendernoticescontractsprequalificationsandtendernotices2026HYRD12026BPhtml Relevant interested parties with experience and the capability of delivering the project including developers contractors system operators system suppliers etc can make a request for obtaining the tender documents through the East Kowloon Projects website of the Highways Department wwwsgmtsekhktender Tenderers must deposit their tenders in the tender box as specified in the tender notice before the tender closing time
For enquiries please contact the Railway Development Office of the Highways Department at 3521 0525 during office hours
