Government posts land resumption notices for resumption of private lots required for construction of Northern Link Main Line
The Lands Department today (July 31) posted land resumption notices in accordance with section 19 of the Railways Ordinance (Chapter 519) to resume private lots required for the construction of the Northern Link (NOL) Main Line. The authorised railway scheme of the NOL Main Line involves a 10.7-kilometre underground railway connecting the existing Kam Sheung Road Station of the Tuen Ma Line and the Kwu Tung Station under construction on the East Rail Line, with three intermediate stations at Au Tau, Ngau Tam Mei and San Tin.
In all, 686 private lots with a total area of about 26 hectares as well as an underground strata of 252 private lots with a total area of about 8.6 hectares will be resumed by the Government. The said land will revert to the Government upon the expiry of a period of three months from the date of affixing the land resumption notices (i.e. November 1, 2025). The Government will release ex-gratia land compensation to the relevant land owners and handle relevant statutory claims for compensation after the land reversion.
The land reversion date is the date of vesting of the ownership of the land in the Government. It is not the departure deadline of the affected households and business undertakings. According to the project programme, the Lands Department will post notices in relevant areas in accordance with the applicable procedures about three months before the departure deadlines of the affected households and business undertakings. It is estimated that the affected households and business undertakings will have to move out starting from early 2026 at the earliest. The Government will closely liaise with the relevant land owners and affected parties, and properly handle their compensation and rehousing matters.
The Government has earlier executed the Part1 Project Agreement of the NOL Project (comprising both the NOL Main Line and the NOL Spur Line) with the MTR Corporation Limited (MTRCL) to commence works on the NOL Main Line that are more ready and time-critical, and also required the MTRCL to carry out the detailed planning and design of the NOL Spur Line including relevant statutory procedures in parallel. The NOL Main Line would become the public transportation backbone for multiple new development areas in the Northern Metropolis and connect the existing Tuen Ma Line and East Rail Line, forming a railway loop linking the New Territories and the Kowloon urban area. This will substantially enhance the coverage and resilience of the railway network and also unleash the development potential of the Northern Metropolis. The NOL Spur Line, as a cross-boundary bifurcation of the NOL Project, would connect the metro networks of Hong Kong and Shenzhen, offering both local commuting functions within Hong Kong as well as cross-boundary railway services.
Source: AI-found images
