GENERAL SURVEY.
In the light of the political events which have taken place covering the period April 1st 1949 to March 31st 1950, it would have taken an extremely bold person to have prophesied that the British Section of the Kowloon-Canton Railway would once again break all previous records in the number of pas- sengers carried and revenue earned. Yet such has been the
case.
2. At the beginning of April 1949, the Nationalists were still in power, but within a few months there were signs that the Communists were making rapid progress towards the Yangtse. There were some who thought that the new régime would reach Canton in August of that year, but serious floods in the Yangtse valley as well as other considerations halted the pace, and Canton did not fall until October 15th 1949. The last through train to run was the 8.10 a.m. Express from Kowloon on October 14th 1949. For weeks prior to that event all down trains were packed with luggage-laden passengers. Some idea may be gained of the amount of excess baggage carried from the figure of $116,588.36 in the operating receipts as compared with $20,779.10 for the previous year.
3. Within one week, on October 21st, I travelled to Canton at the invitation of certain officials of the new régime for the purpose of arranging a resumption of the through passenger services between the two cities. The officials concerned proved to have been a little too quick for the Canton Railway adminis- trators who were temporary officers working under a Military Governor, and as such could not accept the responsibility of ordering a resumption at that stage.
4. Nevertheless, the visit bore fruit for on November 1st 1949, a passenger service between Canton and Shum Chun of one train each way daily was started, and quickly rose to three trains each way per day. Train departure and arrival times at the border were not yet fixed, however, and night running was resorted to at times owing to air raids.
5. The British Section meanwhile had perforce to run an intensive service of local trains for the delivery of passengers to, and collection from, the border. Later, definite schedules were introduced and punctually adhered to, but no through running for passengers had been achieved by the end of the
year.