1975/76
1976/77
Percentage Increase/Decrease
Chargeable freight tonnage
1,538,958
1,386,865
9.88
Number of passenger journeys Head of livestock
13,398,244
12,210,985
8.86
1,811,637
1,641,682
9.38
Goods revenue
$18,092,404 $15,848,346
12.40
Passenger revenue
$17,287,289 $15,612,030
9.69
Gross railway revenue
$38,611,025 $34,839,595
9.76
Recurrent expenditure
$26,916,362 $30,819,476
+ 14.50
5.
Freight tonnage as shown elsewhere in this report is in metric tonnes. Passenger figures are based on the number of tickets sold at stations and on trains. As no charge is made for children three years old and under, the total number of passengers actually carried is greater.
6.
Imports from China, which represented 99.92% of the freight carried, dropped from the previous year's figure of 1,537,697 tonnes to 1,385,815 tonnes. The drop was due mainly to the internal situation and earth quakes around Tang Shan in China, and the subsidence of a bridge at Tai Wai, which severed the railway and isolated the freight unloading yards. Although temporary yards were opened north of the bridge the facilities available were insufficient to cope with the normal freight volume coming from China. The effect of the subsidence deprived the Railway of all unloading facili- ties south of Tai Wai. As a result, the Chinese authorities were forced to transfer some freight to sea transport. Some of these arrangements continued for several months after the bridge was replaced and through traffic resumed in mid October. Export tonnage was 704 tonnes, a decrease of 82 tonnes over the previous year. Freight carried within the New Territories dropped slightly from 475 tonnes in 1975/76 to 346 tonnes.
7.
The number of passengers who travelled wholly within the Hong Kong decreased from 11,868,132 in the previous year to 10,605,010, a decrease of 10.6%. This was due mainly to the removal of Kowloon Station from the busy focal point of Tsim Sha Tsui to Hung Hom and the damage to the bridge at Tai Wai, which occurred during the summer vacation period when large number of school children would have used the railway for travelling to the New Territories. Passengers who travelled to and from China increased by 4.96% from 1,530,112 in the previous year to 1,605,975. The increase is attributed to the recovery of Hong Kong's economy.
8.
Net profit for the year dropped to $4.02 million, 65.8% less than the previous year's profit of $11.74 million. The decline was due to the fall in freight and passenger revenue and a higher operational cost. The higher cost was mainly caused by a revision of salaries and the cost of operating the new Kowloon Terminal.
9.
Accumulated funds rose from $60.6 million in the previous year to $64.6 million, an increase of 7%. The value of fixed assets at the end of the year was $45.8 million, an increase of 12% over the previous year's figure of $40.8 million.
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