PUBLIC UTILITIES AND PUBLIC WORKS
207
Bus Services. The year was one of continued progress for the China Motor Bus Company Ltd., who maintain the bus services on the Island. Some 67 million passengers were carried and the total number of miles operated was over 8.1 millions, both figures exceeding those for any previous year.
The Company operates a fleet of 200 vehicles all of which are fitted with diesel engines. New buses placed in service included fourteen of the underfloor-engined type and two with coach bodywork for tourist traffic and private parties. Over fifty new vehicles were on order at the close of the
year.
In September the staff quarters and welfare centre which the Company has built for its employees at North Point were officially opened. Accommodation is provided for more than two hundred families, and welfare facilities include a large canteen, clinic and recreation rooms. Pile driving for the Company's new depot and offices has also been completed and construction work was scheduled to commence in January 1957.
The Kowloon Motor Bus Co., (1933) Ltd., obtained delivery during the year of 50 double-deck and 30 single- deck buses and, it now has a total fleet of 450 vehicles. To cope with the growing passenger traffic, the Company has placed an order for another 100 buses which are expected to be delivered in 1957.
During the year under review five new bus routes, in Kowloon, were introduced. The passengers carried by the Company's services numbered 240 million, and the distance covered by its fleet of buses was 20 million miles, as compared with some 200 million passengers and 19 million miles in 1956.
Construction of the Company's new Headquarters and Depot at To Kwa Wan, which began in November 1955, is nearing completion and the new premises will probably be occupied early in 1957.