B
C.S. 166
CONFIDENTIAL ## 機密
XCC(77)54
The Transport Need for a Tsuen Wan Extension
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Honourable Members' agreement in principle, in 1972, to the construction of the full system of the MTR was taken on the basis of the information (most of it relating to 1970 and 1971) available at that time. Since then, the Government has collected and analysed better information on, for example, population and the economic variables that affect transport, including income growth, sensitivity to fare changes and employment patterns. Much of this additional information has been used in the Comprehensive Transport Study (CTS), published in 1976. The CTS stresses the early need for the Tsuen Wan extension and recommends investigations to determine the earliest date by which this extension could be constructed, consistent with financial, operational and contractual considerations. These investi- gations have been carried out by the Corporation which has concluded that the Tsuen Wan extension would form a valuable addition to the MIS,
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The Report confirms that the key to improving Hong Kong's transport system is the construction of the MTR or at least major sections of it. It estimates that about 75% of public transport journeys originating in Tsuen Wan would have destinations in the areas served by the MIS/Tsuen Wan extension. The Report concludes that the Tsuen Wan extension would provide a considerable improvement to public transport in the Tsuen Wan corridor and would attract passengers and contribute revenues significantly in excess of the total cost of the extension. It recommends that, subject to confirmation by investiga- tions (which have now been carried out by the Corporation), the extension should be built at the earliest possible date.
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The general arguments for building the MTR are well set out in paragraphs 11-17 of memorandum XCS(75)1, copied at Annex B. The specific problems of the Tsuen Wan corridor have to be considered against a background of serious road congestion at important locations in Lai Chi Kok Road and Castle Peak Road which is already causing surface public passenger transport to move quite slowly and at times unreliably. The CTS indicates that, even with severe restraints on private transport (including taxis) and PLBs, road congestion will get worse for all road users as Tsuen Wan/Kwai Chung/Tsing Yi and Tuen Mun develop to populations of 800, 000 and 500, 000 people respectively by 1986.
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The road system serving these two centres is being improved as much as is physically possible by constructing the West Kowloon Corridor and the Tsuen Wan by-pass (which involve 6-lane elevated
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