6
Terminal Traffic between Kowloon and Canton.
1947/48
No. of Passengers Revenue
1948/49
Up Down
765,282
$1,876,686
788,157
1,713,238
Up Down
No. of Passengers
Revenue 910,345 $1,935,307 884,590 1,844,306
Total
1,553,439 $3,589,924
Total
1,794,935 $3,779,613
Sectional Through Traffic.
1947/48
1948/49
No. of Passengers Revenue
No. of Passengers Revenue
Up
Down
214,657 $ 355,039 140,320
227,444
Up Down
324,990 $ 503,631 281,379
488,341
Total
354,977
$ 582,483
Total
606,369 $ 991,972
17. The figures for Terminal Traffic include 18,159 passengers up and 16,537 passengers down by the non-stop trains. This service of one train in each direction was inaugurated on January 24th, 1949, and this Section's share of revenue earned up to the end of the financial year reached $126,339.05.
18. However, the year's increases are to be found mainly in the Sectional Through Traffic. Whereas Terminal Traffic shows an increase of only 15% on last year, foreign bookings other than to Canton are up 70%. This increase is due to the number of travelling traders, runners and smugglers who are eking out a living by travelling to and fro between British Section Stations. and stations over the border. The up and down Through Slow Trains have been particularly popular despite the long delays to these trains caused by Customs and Revenue searches.
19. The number of local passengers carried this year shows an increase of 53% compared with last year, and the total of 1,477,602 is a record for the Railway. Receipts are up by $275,762-a 28.8% increase. The small percentage increase in revenue as compared with the much higher percentage increase in the number of passengers is explained by the large number of passengers travelling between Sheung Shui and Shum Chun during the last few months of the year. The third class fare between these two stations is only 20 cents, and travelling traders have found Sheung Shui Station an ideal starting point for their trips across the border.
20. The question may be asked as to why these passengers are classed as local passengers. It has always been the policy of the Railway to include all passengers travelling on local trains as local passengers despite the fact that Shum Chun Station, the terminus for local trains, is in Chinese territory. The present traffic to Shum Chun, however, is abnormal and will probably only last as long as the present unsettled conditions remain in South China.