Hong Kong legislature pushes through more funding for China high-speed rail

Hong Kong’s Legislative Council approved additional funding of HK$19.6 billion (US$2.526 billion) for an already over-budget high-speed rail link to the mainland cities of Shenzhen and Guangzhou, pushing the project’s cost further above an original estimated budget of HK$65 billion, Bloomberg reported. The territory’s government disclosed in December that abandoning the project would entail a loss of HK$75.6 billion, and a document from the Transport and Housing Bureau cut forecasts of the rail’s economic return from 6% to 4%. Some lawmakers and citizen groups have called for the project to be scrapped due to its ballooning budget and possible border control complications.