18. The total steam train mileage run amounted to 295,687, compared with 334,674 the previous year; this includes trains hauled by British Section locomotives over the Chinese Section. Motor coach mileage was 4,217. Passenger journeys were 2,721,518, as against 2,826,867 in 1936.
19. A notable operating improvement was the construction in the Railway workshops of an air-conditioned lounge car of the ice-activated type. This car, which was placed on the Canton run in June and called the "Aurora", aroused great public interest as it was the first of its kind in China. The increased patronage surpassed the most sanguine expectations, and it was necessary to institute a booking fee of 50 cents to cope with the great demand for seats. The results obtained have led the Chinese Section to plan the construction of two similar coaches. Unfortunately, owing to the hostilities between China and Japan, it was considered desirable to withdraw the car from service in September.
20. The most noteworthy event of the year was the construction of a loop connecting the Canton-Hankow and the Canton-Kowloon Railways. This connection, which is approximately 9 miles in length, runs practically due east from Sai Chuen, a station 44 miles north of Wongsha (Canton West), to Shek Pai Junction, 5 miles from Tai Sha Tou (Canton East). The final junction with the Canton-Kowloon Railway was made on the night of August 17th/18th. The first train to reach Kowloon via the loop consisted of nine 40-ton covered goods wagons which carried bullion from Hankow. This train arrived at 9.28 a.m. on August 27th. Since that date, many goods trains and three passenger trains have completed the 791 miles journey between Kowloon and Wuchang. The increase in through goods earnings from $44,694.93 to $167,556.45 can be attributed directly to the linking-up of the two Railways.
21. There are 371 miles of roads in the Colony, 173 miles on the Island of Hong Kong, 106 miles in Kowloon and 92 miles in the New Territories. Of the total mileage, 293 miles are constructed in water bound macadam dressed with asphalt, 12 miles in sheet asphalt on a cement concrete foundation, 13 miles of tar macadam, 17 miles of concrete, 3 miles of granite setts and wooden blocks on a cement concrete foundation, and 39 miles of earth roads.
22. The public travelling over the Colony's roads increases yearly with a corresponding growth in the number of motor buses, of which there are (88) operating on the island of Hong Kong, and 111 on the mainland. These are gradually replacing the rickshaws, the number of which decreases year by year.
23. The Hong Kong Tramway Company has a fleet of (97) double deck tram cars running along the sea front of Victoria from Kennedy Town to Shaukiwan.