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which the railway by either route would have its terminus.
The determining factors in the selection of one or
other of these two routes are:-
.I.
Cost of Construction.
Cost of running and maintenance.
III.
Time required for construction.
IV.
Time required for running.
V..
VI.
4.
Anticipated traffic and development.
Administrative, Naval and Military advantages.
1. COST OF CONSTRUCTION.
The East route from the Kowloon terminus to the Lo Fu
Ferry is about 21 miles, the West route about 33 1/3 miles in length.
By the former some 13 miles would be over level country without
engineering difficulties while 7 would be on hill sides or on embank-
ments across shallow water and there would be about 1 1/2 miles of
tunnelling. By the latter nearly 17 miles would be over level coun- try and an equal length on hill sides and through some short tunnels.
The cost of the line along the East route according to figures taken from the report made by Mr. R. T. Somerville Large for the British & China Corporation would be under $4,500,000. I have insufficient
data on which to make even an approximate estimate of the cost of the line along the West route. It was not examined by Mr. Large "being so far out of the direct route to the North". Another railway engineer, Mr. Hamilton Smyth, M.1.C.B. has, 1 am informed, expressed a strong preference for the East route not looking on the Shatin tunnel as a very formidable work: On the other hand i am told that Mr. K. Chatham, #.1.C.B., Director of Public Works in this Colony, but at present in England, is in favour of the West route.
5.
Mn. 'Large's preliminary survey contemplated crossing the hills North of Kowloon under the Shatin Pass at a high level by a route involving 7 tunners aggregating 1,600 yards in length and cost-
ing