Nearly half of the Cotai-Hengqin section of the new Light Rail Transit (LRT) has been completed, and the project is on track for opening in September 2024.
The Department of Public Works (DSOP) said work on the cross-border line, which began in March last year, is proceeding “smoothly.”
The project, a two-station line connecting Cotai, Macau and Hengqin Island, Zhuhai, is being built at MOP3.5 billion by Nam Cuong, the only state-owned company headquartered in Macau.
The 2.2-kilometer section between Cotai and Hengqin includes a 900-meter underwater tunnel. It takes about 3 minutes one way.
The Cotai-Hengqin LRT segment will connect the now-disused Lotus Flower checkpoint area in Cotai with the Macau-Zhuhai joint border crossing in Hengqin.
After the joint Macau-Zhuhai checkpoint in Hengqin went into operation in August 2020, the Lotus Flower checkpoint building was demolished.
The Cotai station on the LRT Cotai-Hengqin section will be built on the site of the former Lotus Flower checkpoint.
An interchange platform will be constructed to connect the Cotai side station of the future LRT Cotai-Hengqin section with the adjacent Lotus Checkpoint station of the current LRT Taipa section, allowing LRT passengers to transfer between the Taipa and Hengqin sections. I can.
The LRT elevated line gradually descends from the Cotai elevated section, crosses the Cotai-Hengqin River via an underwater tunnel, and reaches the underground station at the Hengqin checkpoint.
The DSOP says building contractors have until September 2024 to complete the line.
The station on the Cotai side is called HE1, and the latest completion rates of the station’s main structure, elevated structure and outdoor tunnel excavation work have reached about 20%, 60% and 85%, according to the statement. Respectively.
The station on the Hengqin side is called HE2, and about 39% of the outdoor pit excavation work for the underground station’s main structure has been completed.
The DSOP noted that the overall completion rate of the LRT Cotai-Hengqin section reached about 49%, Macau Post Daily reported.
