Eastern Harbour Crossing

4 ft 8+3⁄8 in)Operating speed70 kilometres per hour (43 mph) (within road tunnel)
50 kilometres per hour (31 mph) (exit and entrance to road tunnel) Major junctionsWest endQuarry BayMajor intersections2 in total;
Route 4 at Quarry BayEast endLam Tin (near Cha Kwo Ling) LocationCountryChinaSpecial administrative regionHong KongMajor citiesKwun Tong, Quarry Bay Highway system

• Transport in Hong Kong

• Routes
• Roads and Streets

Eastern Harbour Crossing
Traditional Chinese	東區海底隧道
Simplified Chinese	东区海底隧道
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Dōngqū Hǎidǐ Suìdào Yue: Cantonese Yale Romanization Dūngkēui Hóidái Seuihdouh Jyutping dung1 keoi1 hoi2 dai2 seoi6 dou6

The Eastern Harbour Crossing, abbreviated as "EHC" (Chinese: 東隧), is a combined road-rail tunnel that crosses beneath Victoria Harbour in Hong Kong. Opened on 21 September 1989, it connects Quarry Bay, Hong Kong Island and Cha Kwo Ling, Kowloon East.

History

Initially, the Government of Hong Kong had planned to build a bridge across the eastern portion of the harbor but due to fears of it blocking planes landing Kai Tak airport, this was shelved in favour of a tunnel.

In 1986, the government gave New Hong Kong Tunnel the right to run the tunnel on a 30-year franchisee with the lease expiring in August 2016.^{[citation needed]} The tunnel features two components, a road part and a rail part:

• The road part of the tunnel is branded by the operator as the Eastern Harbour Tunnel, although the government refers to the tunnel itself as the Eastern Harbour Crossing. The tunnel is governed by the Eastern Harbour Crossing Ordinance. The road part links the Island Eastern Corridor in Hong Kong Island, Lei Yue Mun Road, Tseung Kwan O Tunnel, Tseung Kwan O——Lam Tin Tunnel and the Kwun Tong Bypass in Kowloon East.
• The rail part, lying to the southeast of the road part, runs between Quarry Bay and Yau Tong stations of the MTR Tseung Kwan O line.

The Chinese investment group CITIC Pacific has an interestin^{[clarification needed]} both parts, controlling the road part (71% stake) and has^{[needs update]} a 50% stake in the rail part. CITIC also controls 50% of the Western Harbour Tunnel Company.

Tunnel tolls

Tolls are collected manually or electronically in both directions at the toll plaza on the Cha Kwo Ling side.

Category	Vehicle	Toll ($)[Note 1][2]
1	Motorcycle	13
2	Private car	25
	Taxi
3	Public light bus	38
	Private light bus
4	Light goods vehicle (less than 5.5 tonnes)
5	Medium goods vehicle (5.5 to 24 tonnes)	50
6	Heavy goods vehicle (more than 24 tonnes)	75
7	Single-decker bus	50
8	Double-decker bus	75
	Additional axle	25

Notes

Interchanges

Eastern Harbour Crossing
Westbound exits	Exit number	Eastbound exits
End of Route 2 intersects with Island Eastern Corridor
End Eastern Harbour Crossing		Start Eastern Harbour Crossing
Tai Koo Shing,Sai Wan Ho, Shau Kei Wan, Chai Wan,Siu Sai Wan, Stanley, Shek O Island Eastern Corridor	1A	no exit
Quarry Bay, North Point, Causeway Bay, Happy Valley, Aberdeen Island Eastern Corridor	1B	no exit
no exit	1C	Tseung Kwan O, Lam Tin Interchange Tseung Lam Highway
Eastern Harbour Crossing
Start Eastern Harbour Crossing		End Eastern Harbour Crossing continues as Lei Yue Mun Road

Traffic

As of 2018^[update], there are 46 bus routes passing through the tunnel.

Controversies

In June 2005, CITIC decided to raise the toll for using Eastern Harbour Crossing from HK$15 to HK$25 for private vehicles and up to 67% for other classes of vehicles, under the fare adjustment mechanism derived from the build-operate-transfer (BOT) model.^[3] This increase aroused criticisms that the model was detrimental to the public interest, with the increase shifting more traffic to the already congested Cross-Harbour Tunnel.

See also

• Vehicular harbour crossings in Hong Kong
• List of tunnels and bridges in Hong Kong
• Megaproject

References

External links

• Official site

Preceded by Southern Terminus

Hong Kong Route 2 Eastern Harbour Crossing

Succeeded by Lei Yue Mun Road