- 2.
-
27
night and day by the soldiery without proper attention
or repairs, derailments and collisions were frequent
until there was scarcely an engine in running order on
the Chinese Section. Of 1,460 tabled Express
trains only 264 ran and of 730 Slow Through trains,
only 409 ran.
3. During the year the British Section also
suffered considerable inconvenience by the retention of
its goods stock by the Chinese Section. Owing to the commandeering of the Chinese Section rolling stock by
the military for the transport of troops and military
stores, and the general interference with the working of
the Chinese Section, the British Section wagon stock
was held up on that Section with the result that goods
destined for Canton accumulated in the Railway goodshed
at Kowloon to such extent that many remunerative cargoes
amounting to thousands of tons had to be turned away,
and several consignments already loaded were eventually
withdrawn.
4. The claim for suspension of through traffic
is based on Clause f of article 7 of the Working
Agreement which reads as follows:-
"When in circumstances of political emergency
it is necessary either for the Hong Kong Government or
for the Chinese Government to suspend the running of through trains due notice (not less than six hours clear)
shall be given by the one Government to the other and
compensation shall be paid by the Government requesting
such suspension at a daily rate of half the average
gross receipts of the other Section on through traffic as
ascertained from the accounts for the corresponding month
of