Chapter 1509 Undersea Tunnel

There is a large mine that can be mined comfortably for decades and enjoy the continuous benefits.

In 2018, people often made fun of people who were bold in investing, saying, "Why are you so bold? You have a mine at home."

From this we can see that everyone knows the benefits of having a mine at home.

But in fact, there is another kind of property that does not require much continuous investment from you, but can make you earn for decades once and for all.

It is the highway.

However, expressways are basically impossible to be built by private individuals. Those who can build them are usually only Xiangjiang businessmen in the early stages of reform and opening up, and then they become large companies and large groups with deep backgrounds in the mainland.

That's why people don't use joking words like "There is a road at home."

But when it comes to the ability to make money, highways are much more reliable than mines.

Because the value of mines will also rise and fall due to the rise and fall of ore prices, such as the coal bosses in Shanxi and the iron ore companies in Australia.

But from the first day of construction of the expressway, it will only become more and more profitable.

Unless absolutely necessary, they will not reduce prices by a penny during their charging period between 20 and 35 years. Instead, they will increase prices.

This way of making money can be described as hard work.

Regardless of national regulations, the toll life of expressways is all extended by 5-10 years.

What's more, the expressway in eastern Guangdong has expired its toll collection period. It should have been returned to the government for operation and free of charge, but it is strange that the toll collection period has continued to be extended for several years.

Of course, there are also many historical factors involved.

If so many benefits had not been given back then, how could Xiangjiang businessmen, including Hu Yinxiang, Li Chaoren, Li Zhaoji and other wealthy people, come to the mainland to build expressways?

With the economic conditions of the local governments in the mainland at that time, how could it be possible to quickly build the world's longest highway in less than ten years, connecting major cities and greatly promoting development and exchanges?

It's just that we are not used to looking at the efforts of Hong Kong's wealthy people in that era and the risks they took. We only see their gains today.

Then again.

It is only 1983, and it is impossible for most Hong Kong wealthy people to build a highway even if they want to.

Nowadays, people in the mainland are not eating enough. How can they have the leisure and energy to do the work of highway transportation arteries?

Except for the fact that Eastern Guangdong has taken the lead in building a few expressways as a pilot project in the past few years, it will basically not be until after 1990 that expressways will be built one after another in major cities across the country.

The highways in eastern Guangdong were built by Hu Yinxiang's Hopewell Group. With his deep connections, no one could compete with him.

Yin Jun was not willing to snatch it.

Even the highway, Yin Jun is not willing to contaminate it.

Making money is making money, but after 20 or 30 years, people will criticize you.

Yin Juncai was unwilling to destroy the reputation he had maintained for this little money.

With that time and energy, he would rather go abroad and earn foreigners' money.

However, although Yin Jun does not want to build a highway in the mainland, there is currently a road in Xiangjiang that he can build.

To be precise, it's a tunnel.

underwater tunnel.

Eastern Harbor Crossing.

By 2020, there will be a total of three undersea tunnels in Xiangjiang, connecting Xiangjiang Island and Kowloon.

The first is the Hongkan Undersea Tunnel invested and built by British foreign companies in 1969. From Hongkan to the vicinity of Causeway Bay, the total length is 1.86 kilometers and cost 320 million Hong Kong dollars.

The Hung Hom Cross-Harbour Tunnel has been returned to the management of the Hong Kong government in 1999. Therefore, after the number of private cars in Hong Kong increased, its low tolls and the best location have made it the first choice for people to cross the island. choose.

By 2020, the average number of vehicles passing through the Hong Kan Undersea Tunnel every day will be 120,000, far exceeding the 80,000 vehicle trips at the time of design.

The second one is called the Eastern Harbor Crossing. It connects Cha Kwo Ling Road next to Kwun Tong and Quarry Bay on Hong Kong Island. It has a total length of 2.2 kilometers. It was built in 1986 and was transferred to the Hong Kong Government in 2016 for operation.

But then the Hong Kong government sold the operation and management rights to the MTR Corporation. This is why the cost of the Eastern Harbor Crossing has not come down.

Because of the high price of passage, only about 70,000 trains pass through the Eastern Harbor Crossing every day, which is basically half of its designed number of uses.

But the Eastern Harbor Crossing is not the least used.

The one with the lowest usage rate is the Western Harbor Crossing in the far west. It is 2 kilometers long. Construction began in 1993. It was opened to traffic four years later. By 2020, it only has a traffic volume of 50,000 vehicles per day.

The reason is naturally because it is the most expensive.

Taking a private car as an example, it costs HKD 20 to pass through Hong Kong, and it costs HKD 25 to pass through the Eastern Harbor Crossing, but it costs HKD 50 to pass through the Western Harbor Tunnel!

Such a high price is really unbearable even for people in Hong Kong.

Therefore, when Yin Jun crossed over, the voices of Xiangjiang people calling for the construction of a fourth undersea tunnel to reduce traffic pressure have been very high.

Let’s not talk about what happens next.

What is before Yin Jun is the Eastern Harbor Crossing project.

Nowadays, the number of vehicles in Xiangjiang has begun to increase. In order to prepare for a rainy day, the Xiangjiang government is already considering building a second cross-sea tunnel.

But the Hong Kong government does not have that much money, so it is impossible for it to intervene in the construction of this undersea tunnel.

The construction of the Hong Kong Undersea Tunnel 14 years ago cost 320 million Hong Kong dollars, and at that time the price of a house was less than 200 Hong Kong dollars per square foot.

If calculated based on this level of skyrocketing prices, the cost of the Hong Kong Undersea Tunnel today has increased at least ten times, to 3.2 billion Hong Kong dollars.

The Hung Hom Undersea Tunnel is already the shortest distance between Hong Kong Island and Kowloon. The second tunnel to be built will definitely be much longer than it, so the cost is directly estimated to start at HK$4 billion.

Based on the successful experience of the Hong Kan Undersea Tunnel, the best way is to recruit another large company to build, manage, operate and maintain it, and then return the undersea tunnel to the Hong Kong government for operation after 30 years.

However, according to the regulations of the Hong Kong government, the 30-year toll operation time will be calculated from the day the contract is signed - the construction time is also included in the calculation.

This is to avoid their delay and urge them to start operations as soon as possible.

A few days ago, Youde invited Yin Jun to have a meal, also to thank Yin Jun for his strong support to Xiangjiang in the past month or so, from the time when the fourth negotiation ended without any problem until the exchange rate stabilized.

Youde is definitely not a bad person, he can be regarded as a gentleman, so even if he knows that Yin Jun is for Xiangjiang, not the Xiangjiang government, he still accepts the favor.

During the dinner, Youde mentioned this matter to Yin Jun.

Judging from the toll status of the Hong Kong Undersea Tunnel, everyone knows that the second undersea tunnel is definitely a piece of fat.

Whoever can get the right to operate this building will make a lot of money.

Now Youde plans to give this benefit to Yin Jun as the Xiangjiang government's gratitude to him.

At the same time, Youde also believes that the people of Xiangjiang will not object, because everything Yin Jun did before was for them.

Such a person is definitely one of the most suitable candidates to build and operate the second undersea tunnel.

Yin Jun understands better than Youde what a treasure trove this second Eastern Harbor Crossing is.

But the young man didn't agree immediately.

Because there are still some troublesome things here that need to be carefully considered by Yin Jun.

The first is the money and energy involved.

This is naturally not the biggest problem. A mere 4 billion Hong Kong dollars, spread over two or three years, will not pose any problems to the Kirin Group.

The energy aspect is also simple. Yin Jun hired the company that had previously designed and built the Hongkan Undersea Tunnel to do it, and he only had to supervise the funds and quality.

It is the best way to leave professional matters to professionals.

Then the thing that Yin Jun wants to change the most is the location of the Eastern Harbor Crossing.

In its previous life, the Eastern Harbor Crossing was a very remote stretch from Cha Kwo Ling Road to Quarry Bay.

Quarry Bay is certainly not remote. It is on the bustling Hong Kong Island and is only 4 MTR stops away from Causeway Bay.

The key is Cha Kwo Ling Road.

It may not be intuitive to just talk about Cha Kwo Ling Road. As long as you know that not far behind it is Tiu Keng Ling, which is the place where people in the countryside in Xiangjiang are unwilling to go - that is, where Aunt Zhang and Wen Bixia lived before, you will understand that it is almost It's at the very edge of the New Territories in Kowloon.

The future development here has been mediocre. If a private car wants to go to Hong Kong Island through the undersea tunnel from here, it has to go from Waterloo Road to Lung Cheung Road, and then drive all the way from Kowloon Bay, Ngau Tau Kok, Kwun Tong... , to reach Cha Kwo Ling Road and finally cross the sea.

The reason why the Eastern Harbor Crossing in the previous life did not have a lot of traffic was not only due to the price factor, but also the other half due to its location.

Otherwise, the Western Harbor Crossing, which is twice as expensive as the Eastern Harbor Crossing, can handle almost 50,000 vehicles. Why can the Eastern Harbor Crossing only have 70,000 vehicles?

If Yin Jun builds the Eastern Harbor Crossing, he will definitely not be willing to use only half of the designed capacity.

To make money, you must maximize profits!

Since he can make full use of the tunnel and doesn't have to set a high price, Yin Jun certainly doesn't feel burdened by making money so openly.

Then, the route map of the Eastern Harbor Crossing must be changed.

Even if the route is lengthened, starting from Laguna Park in Kwun Tong, passing close to the Kai Tak Airport area, and directly connecting to the MTR "North Point Station".

Or, which is more complicated, go out from the Kwun Tong Waterfront Corridor in Ngau Tau Kok and finally arrive at Quarry Bay.

Compared with the first "Kwun Tong-North Point" plan, the second "Ngau Tau Kok-Quarry Bay" plan requires at least 4 kilometers to be built, almost doubling the distance.

Doubling the distance will not only increase the length of the undersea tunnel, but also double the difficulty and cost of the project!

Not to mention HK$10 billion, at least HK$7 billion is necessary.

As for the first "Kwun Tong-North Point" plan, it should be 3 kilometers at most and cost 5 billion.

Which of the two options is more excellent, which one is most conducive to transportation convenience and making money is not easy to determine.

Yin Jun handed it over to relevant experts and asked them to discuss it, and finally gave Yin Jun a detailed calculation plan.

They analyzed and calculated from various angles, which was much more practical than Yin Jun's fantasy here.

Youde doesn't have to worry about changing his mind. Unless Yin Jun is unwilling to build the East Harbor Tunnel, the Hong Kong government will definitely not give it to a second company.

This is the benefit of paying a huge price before!

During the operation period of more than 20 years, profits of tens of billions of Hong Kong dollars came to Yin Jun's hands. Isn't this a gift from God to reward those who work hard, and God rewards the brave! ?

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