28.
The revision of the railway Standing Orders (Railway Rule Book) which started in 1974 was completed and forwarded to the Government Printer for printing at the close of the year. The Book was last revised in 1946 and had remained virtually unchanged. The new Book will be printed with loose leaves to facilitate the inclusion of future amendments.
29.
The Railway suffered a major disruption during the year when the bridge over Shing Mun River, between Tai Wai and Sha Tin, was under- mined by a rainstorm at the end of August. As a result it had to be de- molished and rebuilt. During this period, which lasted from 25th August, 1976 to 11th October, 1976, a shuttle train service was operated either side of the river with a bus link operated by the China Motor Bus Company connecting the rail services. Some 12,500 people were carried each day. Freight traffic suffered considerably because of the lack of freight terminii all of which were located south of the bridge and as a temporary expedient, sidings in the Workshops at Ho Tung Lau, the branch line to Wo Hop Shek and the section of the main line between Sha Tin Station and the Shing Mun River, together with the partially completed oil unloading yard under construction at Fo Tan, were brought into use as temporary unloading yards. With these measures, it was possible to continue to receive freight traffic from China, although the volume was restricted. Possibly because of this the price of some food stuffs rose on the local markets. The disruption demonstrated the importance of the Railway for the transportation of commodities from China. Additionally the China Travel Service (Hong Kong) Ltd. constructed oil unloading facilities on the sea wall adjacent to the main line at Pak Shek Kok between Tai Po Kau and University Stations.
30.
Apart from this disruption, the Railway suffered two further disruptions at the close of the year. On 4th March, 1977, the railbus was derailed near Ho Tung Lau Workshops due to the collapse of scaffolding on adjacent road works, blocking traffic through the area for a few hours. On 20th March, 1977, six wagons of a train of empty wagons returning to the Chinese Section were derailed at Keng Hau, outside the northern portal of Beacon Hill Tunnel necessitating closing this section of the line for one day to enable repair work to be carried out. The track had recently been slued after a span of bridge No. 9 had been moved to facilitate the provision of an additional span as part of the double tracking project.
TRAFFIC
31.
Traffic earnings decreased by $3,919,318 (11.08%) in comparison with the previous year. Recent trends are shown below :
1973/74
$21,996,433
1974/75
28,688,809
1975/76
$35,379,694
1976/77
$31,460,376
32.
On 22nd April 1976, the Chief Secretary, Sir Denys Roberts visited the Ho Tung Lau Workshops in the company of the General Manager.
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