MONDAY, NOVEMBER 24, 1975
NEW RAIL STATION 'A FINE EXAMPLE OF BUILDERS' ABILITY
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THE ACTING GOVERNOR, SIR DENYS ROBERTS, TODAY OFFICIALLY OPENED THE MASSIVE $149 MILLION HUNG HOM RAILWAY TERMINUS COMPLEX.
THE COMPLEX ONE OF THE BIGGEST DESIGNING AND CONSTRUCTION JOBS UNDERTAKEN BY THE PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT - WILL REPLACE THE 65-YEAR-OLD RAILWAY STATION AT TSIM SHA TSUI AND WILL BE ABLE TO HANDLE 10,000 PASSENGERS AN HOUR AND UP TO 5,000 TONS OF FREIGHT PER DAY.
IN HIS OPENING SPEECH, THE ACTING GOVERNOR NOTED THAT THE TERMINUS WAS MORE THAN A RAILWAY STATION. IT WOULD BE 'A FOCAL POINT FOR BOTH TRANSPORT SERVICES IN KOWLOON AND FOR THE SERVICE OF CHINA'S EXPORT TRADE TO HONG KONG,
RAILWAY PASSENGERS, HE SAID, WOULD BE ABLE TO CONTINUE THEIR JOURNEYS FROM THE TERMINUS IN A VARIETY OF WAYS - BY A FERRY SERVICE FROM A NEARBY PIER TO HONG KONG ISLAND, BY BUSES RUNNING FROM AN ADJOINING BUS STATION TO THE ISLAND AND TO ALL PARTS OF KOWLOON AND, IN DUE COURSE, FROM AN UNDERGROUND STATION WITHIN CLOSE REACH.
PROVISION HAD ALSO BEEN MADE FOR THE TRANS-SHIPMENT OF GOODS ARRIVING BY RAIL TO ROAD TRANSPORT OR TO THE NEARBY WHARVES. EXTENSIVE WAREHOUSING FOR BOTH GOVERNMENT DEPARTMENTS AND COMMERCIAL CONCERNS WERE ALSO AVAILABLE.
+ALL THESE LINKED FACILITIES WILL BE NECESSARY TO DEAL WITH THE GROWTH IN GOODS AND PASSENGER TRAFFIC WHICH WE BELIEVE WILL BE GENERATED BY FUTURE IMPROVEMENTS TO THE KOWLOON-CANTON RAILWAY AND BY THE EXPANSION OF OUR ECONOMY, HE SAID.
+IN PARTICULAR,+ HE ADDED, +1 HOPE THAT IT WILL NOT BE LONG BEFORE THE PATTERN OF OUR TRADE WITH CHINA WILL MAKE IT ESSENTIAL FOR THE KCR TO BE DOUBLE TRACKED ALL THE WAY TO LO WU.+
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SIR DENYS DESCRIBED THE COMPLEX AS A FINE EXAMPLE OF THE ABILITY OF HONG KONG'S BUILDERS TO DERIVE THE MAXIMUN EFFECTIVENESS FROM A LIMITED SITE AND TO CONSTRUCT IN A WAY WHICH WAS PLEASING TO THE EYE AND PRACTICAL.
HE NOTED THAT IN THE PAST TWENTY YEARS KCR PASSENGER TRAFFIC HAD QUADRUPLED TO A TOTAL OF 14 MILLION A YEAR AND GOODS TRAFFIC GROWN BY ABOUT NINE TIMES TO 1.2 MILLION TONS ANNUALLY. THE LARGER AND BETTER EQUIPPED HUNG HOM TERMINUS, KE SAID, WOULD BE CAPABLE OF HANDLING NOT ONLY THE PRESEN VOLUME OF TRAFFIC BUT ALSO THE GREATER VOLUME EXPECTED IN THE FUTURE.
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/SIR DENYS .****
J.