Macao’s Secretary for Transport and Public Works Lau Si Io said that the city’s light rapid transit railway (LRT) in Cotai will be linked to the Hengqin Island border by a tunnel under the Shizhimen channel.

Mr Lau said that the Cotai-Hengqin Lotus Flower border checkpoint would be rebuilt to accommodate an LRT station.

He added that the government had no timetable yet for the reconstruction of the border checkpoint and when the construction of the tunnel will begin.

The city’s Transportation Infrastructure Office said in a statement that once the project is completed passengers could expect a “seamless” journey by transiting the Guangzhou-Zhuhai Intercity Railway station for the local LRT in Hengqin.

The bureau said that the route to Hengqin would be about 3.3 kilometres long, starting from the Lotus Flower checkpoint in Cotai. The route will consist of an elevated track as well as a tunnel under the Shizhimen channel, it added.