INTRODUCTION
The British Section of the Kowloon-Canton Railway was first opened to traffic in 1910. Until the removal of Kowloon Station to Hung Hom in November, 1975, it ran from Tsim Sha Tsui at the southern tip of Kowloon Peninsula to Lo Wu at the border with China, a distance of 36 kilometres (22 miles). The removal of Kowloon Station reduced the distance to 33.51 kilometres (20.82 miles). The system is a single line of standard gauge 1,435 mm (4 feet 8 inches) wide with nine stations, including terminii at both ends and a passenger and goods station at Mong Kok. Work is in progress to construct a second line to Sha Tin, the first phase of a plan to double track the line from Hung Hom to Tai Po Market and eventually to Lo Wu.
2.
Since the removal of Kowloon Station to Hung Hom, the number of daily passenger trains has been increased from 18 to 20 each way, including
There is trains operating between Hung Hom and Fanling and Tai Po Market. a daily maximum of 8 freight trains each way. On Sundays and public holi- days, additional passenger trains are run to cope with the increase in passengers. On certain festivals, such as Ching Ming and Chung Yeung, when large numbers of people are expected to visit the New Territories, special trains are provided to meet the increase in demand.
3.
Before 1949, it was possible to travel unhindered from Kowloon to Canton. Since then, people travelling to and from China must change trains at Lo Wu. Freight and mail wagons, on the other hand, cross the border without transhipment, except for a change of the locomotive hauling the train. The journey time for a passenger train from Hung Hom to Lo Wu is slightly over an hour, including stops at each of the seven intermediate stations.
4.
GENERAL SURVEY
Apart from a drop in passengers, arising from the removal of Kowloon Station from the busy focal point of Tsim Sha Tsui to Hung Hom and possibly the economic recession, 1975/76 was a successful year for the Railway. Freight revenue earnings increased by 34%, while passenger revenue earnings, despite the drop in passengers, increased by 14 per cent. The following table gives an account of the performance :-
Percentage Increase/Decrease
Chargeable freight tonnage Number of passenger journeys Head of livestock
Goods revenue
Passenger revenue
Gross railway revenue Recurrent expenditure
1974/75
1975/76
1,167,292
1,538,958
+ 31.84
13,901,333
13,398,244
- 3.62
1,517,766
1,811,637
+ 19.36
$13,550,112
$18,092,404
+ 33.52
+ 14.19
+ 25.67
+
7.11
$15,138,697 $17,287,290 $30,723,929 $38,611,025 $25,128,791 $26,916,362
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