The government on Tuesday announced that the East Rail Line's harbour-crossing extension will open on May 15.

The line will link Hung Hom to Admiralty, via a new Exhibition Centre Station.

The journey time between Admiralty and the New Territories will be cut by 11 minutes.

The number of carriages in each train will be reduced from 12 to 9, but Transport Secretary Frank Chan said the frequency of services will be increased during rush hours to meet passenger demand.

He added that he is confident the city's fourth cross-harbour line will operate smoothly.

"They are under very close scrutiny before they are allowed to operate. Hong Kong's railway is one of the best across the globe. We have confidence that the new cross-harbour extension will operate very smoothly in due course," he said.

The MTR Corporation said it will be able to cope with an influx of extra passengers when the extension opens.

The company's operating chief, Sammy Wong, said they can run more trains in morning peak hours.

"We have some operational measures, like the deployment of bullet trains during the peak time at the busiest platforms to alleviate the passenger demand there," he said.

"As we noticed, there is a concentration of passengers at the first few [carriages] on our trains, especially during the morning peak hours, southbound. And therefore, we have specific measures at stations, like Fanling and also Tai Wo, to divert the flow of passengers to those areas on the platform which are more spacious so that passengers can more conveniently and easily board the train."