HONG KONG, May 24 (Xinhuanet) -- The Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation (KCRC) has accomplished 74 percent of the West Rail project and is expected to fulfill the task by the end of next year, KCRC Chairman Michael Tien said here Friday.

¡¡¡¡Tien made the remarks at the topping out ceremony of Yuen Long and Long Ping Stations, the fifth and sixth of the total nine stations along the rail whose main structures have been constructed.

¡¡¡¡Up to now, according to Tien, the major civil engineering worksof the West Rail project is near completion, while the whole project is "74 percent complete in overall terms."

¡¡¡¡The three-storey and elevated Yuen Long Station and Long Ping Station have been constructed at a combined cost of 1.77 billion HK dollars.

¡¡¡¡Tien noted that the construction of these two stations was extremely complicated, as the geological conditions posed great challenge to piling works. Taking Long Ping Station for example, among 45 piles supporting the viaduct, 11 piles are more than 100 meters long. The deepest is 129 meters long, which makes it one ofthe deepest piles in the world.

¡¡¡¡KCRC Board Member Denys Connolly pointed out that when West Rail comes into operation next year, it would further open up the development potential of the northwest New Territories. For KCRC, added Denys, it would be the initial step towards its objective ofbuilding an integrated railway network linking up more areas of Hong Kong. Enditem

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