Tate's Cairn Tunnel is a four-lane road tunnel in Hong Kong. Constructed as part of Route 2, it links Diamond Hill,

New Kowloon New Kowloon is an area in Hong Kong, bounded in the south by Boundary Street, and in the north by the ranges of the Eagle's Nest, Beacon Hill, Lion Rock, Tate's Cairn and Kowloon Peak. It covers the present-day Kwun Tong District and Wong T ...

with Siu Lek Yuen,

Sha Tin Sha Tin, also spelt Shatin, is a neighbourhood along Shing Mun River in the eastern New Territories, Hong Kong. Administratively, it is part of the Sha Tin District. Sha Tin is one of the neighbourhoods of the Sha Tin New Town project. The ...

, New Territories East. It opened on 26 June 1991. Its

toll plaza A toll road, also known as a turnpike or tollway, is a public or private road (almost always a controlled-access highway in the present day) for which a fee (or '' toll'') is assessed for passage. It is a form of road pricing typically implemente ...

is situated on the Sha Tin side, leading to

Tate's Cairn Highway Tate's Cairn Highway (), opened on 26 June 1991, is a dual 3-lane expressway in Hong Kong. It links Tate's Cairn Tunnel and Ma Liu Shui Interchange, forming a part of Route 2 (formerly known as Route 6). From the Ma Liu Shui Interchange, where ...

, Sha Lek Highway and various local roads. The tunnel joins the

Kwun Tong Bypass The Kwun Tong Bypass (also spelt Kwun Tong By-pass) is an elevated expressway between Lam Tin and Kowloon Bay in Kwun Tong District, Kowloon East, Hong Kong, with three lanes in each direction and a posted speed limit of . It is part of Route ...

and is connected with

Lung Cheung Road Lung Cheung Road () is a major road in New Kowloon, Hong Kong. It forms part of Route 7 linking Kwun Tong Road at Ngau Chi Wan and Ching Cheung Road near Tai Wo Ping. It is a dual 3-lane carriageway running in the east-west direction for its ...

and Hammer Hill Road and several local roads on the Kowloon side. Tate's Cairn Tunnel is the third longest road tunnel in the New Territories and in Hong Kong, and the second longest over land, with the northbound tube having a length of and southbound tube having a length of , after Tuen Mun–Chek Lap Kok Tunnel (at ) and Lung Shan Tunnel () – It was the longest when it opened.

History

Construction of the Tate's Cairn Tunnel, begun in July 1988, was carried out by a joint venture between Gammon Construction and Nishimatsu. Nishimatsu built the tunnel and the two ventilation buildings, while Gammon constructed the approach roads and buildings. The tunnel opened to traffic at 8:00 pm on 26June 1991. It was reported that traffic in the

Lion Rock Tunnel The Lion Rock Tunnel, the first major road tunnel in Hong Kong, is a twin-bored toll tunnel, connecting Hin Tin, Sha Tin in the New Territories and New Kowloon near Kowloon Tong. It has two southbound lanes, and there are two northbound lan ...

dropped 20 per cent during the Tate's Cairn Tunnel's first day of operation. The tunnel was formally inaugurated by Governor David Wilson on 1July that year.

Franchise model

The Tate's Cairn Tunnel is a BOT (build, operate, transfer) infrastructure project funded 100% by the private sector. The BOT franchise was awarded to the Tate's Cairn Tunnel Company Limited for a period of 30 years by the Hong Kong Government in 1988.Annual Report 2011
Tate’s Cairn Tunnel Company Limited Under the terms of the BOT, the franchisee is responsible for the construction and operation of the tunnel until the end of the franchise period. During the franchise period, the company was allowed to earn a reasonable but not excessive return through the collection of tolls. The statutory requirements to the company were defined by the Tate's Cairn Tunnel Ordinance. Upon the expiration of franchise at midnight of 11July 2018, the tunnel is now transferred to the government.

Tunnel tolls

Tolls are collected manually or electronically in both directions at the toll plaza on the Sha Tin side.

Notes

Tunnel facilities

*dual-tube, 4-laned *9 manual toll booths and 5 autotoll booth *24 cross passages *160 fire alarms *156 emergency telephones *320 fire extinguishers *82 hose reels *78 hydrants *18,268 fluorescent tubes *3,277 tunnel wall panels *44 CCTVs inside tunnel tubes *10 CCTVs outside tunnel tubes *16 ventilation fans

References

External links

Tate's Cairn Tunnel Company

* {{HK routes, r2; Diamond Hill New Kowloon Toll tunnels in Hong Kong Siu Lek Yuen China Resources NWS Holdings Tunnels completed in 1991 Route 2 (Hong Kong) Road tunnels in Hong Kong 1991 establishments in Hong Kong