TRANSPORT
King, Tai Kok Tsui, Kowloon and Central. The domestic service will interchange with the Tsuen Wan Line of the existing MTR system at Lai King and with the Island Line at Hong Kong Station, bringing relief to the Mass Transit Railway Nathan Road Corridor.
Kowloon-Canton Railway
The Kowloon-Canton Railway started operation in 1910 and was double-tracked and electrified in the early 1980s. Operation of the system, formerly run by a government department, was vested in the Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation (KCRC) in 1982.
The 34-kilometre railway provides a suburban service to the new towns in the north-eastern New Territories, a freight service to and from China, and passenger services to and from Changping/Guangzhou and Foshan/Zhaoqing. The suburban service has grown substantially since electrification, and in 1996, the railway, with 13 stations, handled 675 000 passenger journeys daily. Passenger traffic was carried in a fleet of 351 cars, operated in train formations of 12 cars. Ordinary adult fares ranged from $3.50 to $8.50.
In 1996, the KCRC continued its effort to improve its facilities by upgrading signal systems, renovating the Kowloon Station at Hung Hom, redeveloping workshops and depots and building noise barriers at selected locations along the railway.
Light Rail Transit
The KCRC also operates the Light Rail Transit (LRT) system in the north-western New Territories in Tuen Mun, Yuen Long and Tin Shui Wai. The system began operation in 1988. With the commissioning of its Tin Shui Wai Phase III extension in March 1995, the system route length is now 32 kilometres with eight routes, 57 stops and a fleet of 99 cars, either operating singly or in pairs.
The LRT operates zonal fare and provides free transfer from one route to another within zones and to and from stations by feeder buses. Ordinary adult fares range from $3.50 to $5.20. At the end of the year, the LRT and its feeder and auxiliary buses carried about 379 000 passengers per day.
Trams
Electric trams have operated on Hong Kong Island since 1904. The Hongkong Tramways Limited has six overlapping services, using 13 kilometres of double track along the north shore of Hong Kong Island between Kennedy Town and Shau Kei Wan, and nearly three kilometres of single track around Happy Valley.
The company's 163 trams, including two open-balcony trams for tourists and private hire, make up the only fully double-decker tram fleet in the world. The trams carried an average of 294 552 boardings daily in 1996. Fares were $1.20 for adults and 60 cents for children and senior citizens aged 65 or above.
Funicular Rail
Hong Kong's other 'tramway' is a cable-hauled funicular railway operated by the Peak Tramways Company Limited from Central to The Peak. The 1.4-kilometre line began operation in 1888 and was modernised in 1989. It climbs 373 metres on gradients as steep as one-in-two. The line serves an average of 12 058 passengers a
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