Lion Rock Tunnel

Chinese
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t=獅子山隧道|s=狮子山隧道|p=Shīzǐshān Suìdào|j=si1 ji2 saan1 seui6 dou6 The Lion Rock Tunnel, being the first tunnel in Hong Kong, is a twin-bored toll tunnel, connecting Sha Tin in the New Territories and New Kowloon near Kowloon Tong. It has two lanes in each direction, with toll booths located at the Sha Tin end. It is a vital component of Route 1.

The Lion Rock Tunnel was opened on November 14, 1967, as a 1.43 km dual-one single bore tunnel. The conception of this tunnel is often described as a by-product, as there was a need at that time to build a water supply tunnel through the range of hills separating New Kowloon and the rest of the New Territories, as part of the Plover Cove scheme. The Lion Rock Tunnel was designed by Young Au Young, a civil engineer from Shunde.

The government later saw the need for another road link between New Kowloon and Sha Tin when it decided to develop the latter as a new town. The Second Lion Rock Tunnel, which is 1.41 km long and situated to the west of, and lying parallel to, the old tunnel, was opened to traffic on January 18, 1978.

The new tunnel serves northbound traffic towards Sha Tin, while the old one serves southbound traffic towards Kowloon. Traffic in both directions share one of the tunnels when the other undergoes maintenance works.

Serco Group (HK) Limited is contracted to manage, operate and maintain the Lion Rock Tunnel and Kai Tak Tunnel which have a daily total of approximately 90,000 vehicles throughout in 2000. The first contract started in 1993 and was successfully retained in 1996 and 2000 at rebid.

Approximately 100 civil servants from the Transport Department were transferred to Serco Group (HK) Limited as part of the company's solution.

In 1999, several Serco Group (HK) Limited staff achieved certified trainer status by the Institute of Vehicle Recovery UK - a first for a private company in Hong Kong.

Lion Rock Tunnel has achieved both ISO 9001 and OHASA18001 in 2004.The Lion Rock Tunnel's fare is HK$8.

ee also

* Lion Rock
* Transportation in Hong Kong

External links

* [http://www.hyd.gov.hk/eng/major/road/road/new.htm Roads in the New Territories]
* [http://www.td.gov.hk/transport_in_hong_kong/tunnels_and_bridges/tunnels_and_bridges/index.htm Transport department, toll rates]