WORK has officially started to build the 2.74km northern section of the Eastern Line that forms part of the Light Rail Transit (LRT) network in Macau, following the signing of a design and construction contract.
The contract was signed with a joint venture led by China Civil Engineering that also includes Nanguang Real Estate, China Railway 16th Bureau, China Railway Fourth Academy and others.
The underground northern section of the Eastern Line will run entirely in a twin-bore tunnel to be excavated using tunnel boring machines (TBMs).
The new section has three stations. It starts at station ES1 in a tidal flat area at the southeast corner of the northern border crossing into the Macau Special Administrative Region (SAR), and runs to station ES4 station on an artificial island in Area A of Xincheng in the south.
China Civil Engineering says that the Eastern Line will form a key part of the LRT network, which is being developed by the Macau SAR government to improve public transport provision and help ensure high-quality and sustainable development in Macau.
In particular, the northern section is expected to relieve congestion at the northern border crossing into mainland China, to the benefit of both tourists and local residents.
The northern section of the Eastern Line is the third LRT project undertaken by China Civil Engineering in Macau, and the contractor’s second LRT project to include the construction of an undersea tunnel.
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