21. His Excellency the Governor and Lady Grantham left the Colony by rail on October 4th, 1955, for Peking via Canton and returned on October 12th. On both journeys, a British Section coach was provided between Kowloon and Canton.
22. Lady Sugden, wife of the Commander British Forces, visited the Railway on May 26th, 1955. She was accompanied by the General Manager in a special coach attached to the local trains to the border and back. When stopping at a local hostelry for tea she had an opportunity of meeting Military personnel.
23. On May 30th, 1955, 44 free parcels from the American Red Cross Society to the American internees in China were transported free of charge by rail to the border where the parcels were handed to the Chinese Red Cross Society. This occasion was the first of a number during the year.
24. In order to assist the Immigration Branch of the Police Department, an office at Kowloon Station was on loan to them from July 26th, 1955, for the issue of frontier passes for passengers going to China. Later on when the demand for such passes became greater additional godown space and plat- form area were made available to them as a temporary measure.
25. Fares and Rates. A revision of railway fares was brought into operation on July 1st, 1955. The revised fares were worked on a zonal system as distinct from the old station to station system. A major reason for this revision was economy in the cost of tickets since the number of ticket categories was thereby reduced.
Local goods rates were partly revised on October 1st, 1955. In order not to disturb goods rates as a whole the ordinary basic rates and goods classifications remained un- changed. Only the minimum charge for the sole use of a wagon was raised from $50 to $100 on ordinary goods, $50 to $75 on military goods conveyed in ordinary wagons and $50 to $105 on military rations conveyed in specially constructed wagons. The Railway spent $40,219.89 in the construction of such wagons in order to meet the demand.
6
Page 10Page 11