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Approximately 38 million passengers were carried in 136,000 crossings during the year, as compared with 37 million passengers transported in 1950, the
average daily load being 105,000.
The vehicle ferry service operated by the Hong Kong and Yaumati Ferry Co., Ltd., was improved during the year by the delivery of two new diesel-engined vehicle ferry vessels of the largest possible size to fit into the existing wharves and capable of carrying 30 vehicles and over 900 passengers each. The vessels were constructed in Kowloon by the Hong Kong and Whampoa Dock Co., Ltd.
The passenger services run by the company, which include cross harbour services from various points and a number of district services to the more populous islands of the Colony, were also improved by the addition of two new diesel-engined steel passenger ferry vessels, each equipped to carry over 650 passengers and built by the Hong Kong Shipyard Ltd.
These improvements have brought the Company's ferry fleet up to 35 vessels, all with diesel engines and of the latest design, and it is now the largest ferry fleet under single ownership in the British Commonwealth.
The 9-minute vehicle ferry service which operated from early morning till midnight has now had its hours of operation extended from midnight to I a.m., and on Sundays, when passenger car traffic becomes abnormally heavy, the service operates at its maximum schedule of one ferry every 7 minutes with five vessels in service. Over 934,000 vehicles were carried in 1951, an increase of 116,000 over the previous year, but even the 7-minute service is not quick enough to obviate motorists being kept waiting, particularly at the time of the week's major rush hour for the service, early on Sunday mornings.
The inclusion of new passenger ferries in the fleet has enabled the company to give more time to repairs and overhauls and the condition of all vessels has been improved. Better lighting has been installed in the ferries and lighting and seating arrangements have been improved on all piers on which, by arrangement between the Government and the company, extensive alterations and additions have been carried out. Passenger traffic, which showed a reduction in the first half of the year, steadily increased again in the last six months and at the end of the year showed an increase of over 2 million over the 1950 figure, the total being just under 671⁄2 million.
A further improvement which was under way at the end of the year was the construction of a new double-ended steel ferry larger than the present type used and capable of carrying up to 800 passengers.
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