TRANSPORT
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Other major new road projects under planning include the Central-Wan Chai Bypass and Island Eastern Corridor Link, Route 7 between Aberdeen and Kennedy Town and the Chok Ko Wan Link Road on Lantau.
Road Opening Works
Besides serving as carriageways for vehicles and pedestrians, roads also accommodate various utility services, such as water and gas mains, sewers and electricity and telephone cables. To cope with the increasing demand for utility services and maintenance work, utility companies often have to excavate the carriageways and footpaths to lay more pipes, cables and ducts, and to carry out repair work. There were about 216 new road openings each day in 2001. Road openings are co-ordinated and controlled by the Highways Department through a permit system, under which utility companies are required to carry out work to a required standard and within a time limit.
To co-ordinate and monitor road opening works more effectively and to minimise. traffic disruption, the Highways Department has established a three-tier communication system with participants ranging from high level management to working level staff of utility companies and relevant government departments. A computerised utility management system has been used since 1997 to further improve co-ordination and minimise inconvenience to road users.
Public Transport
Rail, bus, ferry and other public transport services offer Hong Kong commuters a good choice of different transport modes at reasonable fares and different levels of comfort, speed and convenience.
Railways
Railways account for some 30 per cent of the total daily public transport volume. The railways are built and operated by the two railway corporations, the Kowloon- Canton Railway Corporation (KCRC) and the MTR Corporation Limited (MTRCL). The KCRC is wholly owned by the Government. The MTRCL was formerly wholly owned by the Government but was privatised in 2000 to become a public limited company with the Government remaining as a major shareholder. Both corporations operate on prudent commercial principles providing efficient, reliable and safe passenger rail services to the public.
The KCR (now commonly known as the East Rail) was commissioned in 1910. It is the first and oldest railway system in Hong Kong. The railway was formerly operated by the Government until the Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation (KCRC) was established in 1982. The East Rail runs from Kowloon to Lo Wu at the boundary. There are 13 stations along the 34-kilometre route and the railway carried an average of 800 000 passengers daily in 2001. In recent years, the KCRC has made rapid progress in a number of capital projects on the East Rail, including the Train Refurbishment Project, Noise Reduction Project and upgrading the signalling system. The East Rail also operates inter-city through train services from Hong Kong to cities in Guangdong as well as to Shanghai and Beijing. Apart from passenger services, the KCRC provides rail freight transportation and intermodal services, covering some 60 cities in the Mainland. The corporation has also made significant progress on projects designed to expand its railway network, including the West Rail (Phase I) and the