The Chief Executive in Council gave on Saturday approval for the MTR Corporation to proceed with detailed planning and design for the South Island Line (West). The 7.5-kilometre project will use a smart and green system that runs along a "dedicated and elevated corridor" and through tunnels. Eight stations will connect the University of Hong Kong to Wong Chuk Hang, allowing direct interchanges with the Island Line at HKU station and the South Island Line East at Wong Chuk Hang station. There will be intermediate stations at Aberdeen, Tin Wan, Wah Kwai, Wah Fu, Cyberport and Queen Mary Hospital. Once completed, the journey from Wah Fu Estate to Admiralty and HKU will both be cut by 15 minutes. A spokesman for the Transport and Logistics Bureau said the smart and green transit system had been adopted to improve cost-effectiveness. "The difference in altitude between Wah Fu Estate and Aberdeen promenade is over 60 metres," he said. "If a heavy rail system was adopted, some sections would have to be built deep underground. The transport benefit and cost effectiveness are both unsatisfactory, making the underground heavy rail scheme financially not viable. "Compared with the original underground heavy rail scheme, the estimated construction cost [of the smart and green system] is reduced by about 40 percent and the delivery programme is advanced by about two years." Construction is scheduled to begin in 2027, with completion expected by 2034.