TRANSPORT
operations. This is also consistent with the Government's policy of not subsidising public transport.
The KCRC was established in 1982 to operate the KCR (now commonly known as the East Rail), which was built in 1910 and formerly operated by a government department. The KCR East Rail runs from Hung Hom to the Mainland boundary at Lo Wu. There are 13 stations along the 34-kilometre route and the railway carried more than 754 000 passengers daily in 1999. The KCRC also operates intercity passenger and freight services to the Mainland. During 1999, the East Rail finished train refurbishment, which together with an upgraded signalling system would increase its carrying capacity by more than 35 per cent. Other improvement programmes, including noise abatement and station improvement, continued. In addition, the KCRC is planning and implementing West Rail Phase I, the MOSR, the TST Extension and the Sheung Shui to Lok Ma Chau spur line.
The KCRC also operates the LRT which started operation in 1988. The system carried an average of 314 000 passengers daily in 1999. To enable the LRT to be effectively integrated with the West Rail (Phase I), which will be commissioned at the end of 2003, the KCRC will upgrade and modify four LRT stops to provide convenient interchanges with the West Rail (Phase I), construct a new extension to the newly developed Tin Shui Wai reserve zone; and improve three LRT/road junctions.
The MTRC was established by statute in 1975 to operate the MTR. The first passenger train on the Kwun Tong Line of the MTR started operation in 1979. The MTR was subsequently expanded to include the Tsuen Wan Line (1982), the Island Line (1985), the Eastern Harbour Crossing rail tunnel connecting Kwun Tong to Quarry Bay (1989) and the Tung Chung Line (1998). The MTR carried a daily average of 2.28 million passengers on weekdays in 1999. The MTRC also operates the Airport Express, which is a dedicated rail link between the new airport and the city
centre.
In March, the Government announced a plan to privatise a substantial minority of its shareholding in the MTRC. The enabling legislation was introduced into the Legislative Council on October 13.
Tramway
Electric trams have been operating on Hong Kong Island since 1904. The Hongkong Tramways Limited operates six overlapping routes on 13 kilometres of double track along the northern shore of Hong Kong Island between Kennedy Town and Shau Kei Wan, and about three kilometres of single track around Happy Valley.
The company's 164 trams, including two open-balcony trams for tourists and private hire and one special maintenance tram, make up the world's only fully double-decker tram fleet. The trams recorded an average of 240 724 passenger trips daily in 1999. Fares were $2 for adults and $1 for children under 12 and senior citizens aged 65 or above.
Peak Tram
Hong Kong's other tramway is a cable-hauled funicular railway operated by the Peak Tramways Company Limited from Central (Garden Road) to the Peak. The 1.4-kilometre line began operation in 1888 and was modernised in 1989. The line
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