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COMMUNICATIONS AND TRANSPORT
Lion Rock tunnel which will provide two further traffic lanes between Kowloon and the Shatin valley.
At the airport a road tunnel beneath the runway is being constructed to link Kwun Tong with Hung Hom, and relieve traffic congestion in the Kowloon City area.
Kowloon-Canton Railway
The British section of the Kowloon-Canton Railway runs from Tsim Sha Tsui at the southern tip of the Kowloon peninsula to Lo Wu near the Chinese frontier, beyond which it joins the Chinese railway system. At present there is no direct passenger serv- ice between Kowloon and Canton and passengers travelling to and from China must change trains at the border and walk across a bridge connecting the two territories. Freight and mail wagons travel through without transhipment.
There are 17 daily passenger trains each way operating on the British section and an average of five goods trains per day. Passenger traffic is normally heavy at weekends and public holidays, especially in winter, and special trains are often run between the Kowloon terminus and Shatin Station, a popular picnic resort. Travelling time, between Tsim Sha Tsui and Lo Wu, including stops at seven intermediate stations, is about one hour.
The greatest number of passengers carried in a single day during the year was 99,867 on April 5, 1973—the Ching Ming Festival day when Hong Kong residents paid their respects to their ancestors in the cemeteries at Wo Hop Shek and Sandy Ridge in the New Territories.
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A locomotive and 40 carriages were ordered in 1973, 28 to replace existing rolling stock and 12 to lengthen trains or to form an additional train. Delivery is expected in the middle of 1974.
Construction of a new railway terminus is continuing at Hung Hom to replace the existing terminal station at Tsim Sha Tsui. Some of the trackwork, passenger platforms and drainage have been completed and provision of electrical power, light- ing and water supplies is in hand. A podium covering the passenger platforms and a part of the railway goods yard is being built to support the passenger concourse, booking hall, waiting rooms, restaurants, railway offices, a multi-storey car park and a bus station. Deep foundations are being laid for the extension of the podium to support an indoor stadium. Signalling material and other equipment for the terminus are being manufactured.
The government has decided to proceed with the first stage of track-widening between Kowloon and Tai Po Market. This consists of doubling the single main line between Kowloon and Shatin and remodelling Mong Kok and Shatin stations. Work is expected to start early in 1974.
Parking
With one of the highest densities of traffic in the world, parking in Hong Kong becomes increasingly difficult each year. To improve traffic flow, the number of