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THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 1981
DEVELOPMENT OF KCR IS A COMPLEX TASK
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BY THE END OF THE DECADE, THE REBUILT KOWLOON-CANTON RAILWAY WOULD BE HANDLING THE EQUIVALENT OF ABOUT ONE-THIRD OF THE TOTAL VOLUME OF PASSENGERS CARRIED ON THE WHOLE OF THE SOUTHERN NETWORK OF BRITISH RAIL, MR D.M. HOWES, CONTROLLER OF RAILWAY DEVELOPMENT, PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT, SAID TODAY (THURSDAY).
MR HOWES WAS ADDRESSING A SEMINAR OF THE PERMANENT WAY INSTITUTION ON RAILWAY DEVELOPMENT AND HONG KONG.
IN ADDITION, MR HOWES SAID, PROVISION WAS BEING MADE TO HANDLE THREE TIMES THE PRESENT VOLUME OF FREIGHT -- ALREADY SOME TWO MILLION TONNES A YEAR AND TWO MILLION HEAD OF LIVESTOCK.
BECAUSE OF THIS VERY LARGE EXPECTED INCREASE IN PASSENGER VOLUME, ALL THE KCR STATIONS WERE BEING REBUILT, MR HOWES SAID.
AT MANY STATIONS, BUS AND RAIL INTERCHANGE FACILITIES WERE BEING PROVIDED, AND THE NEEDS OF DISABLED PEOPLE WERE BEING CONSIDERED.
SPEAKING OF THE DIFFICULTIES INVOLVED IN REBUILDING A WORKING RAILWAY, MR HOWES SAID IT WAS HARD TO CONCEIVE A MORE COMPLEX REBUILDING TASK THAN THAT WHICH CONFRONTED EVERYONE ASSOCIATED WITH THE KCR.
THE KCR WAS DIFFERENT FROM RAILWAY RECONSTRUCTION PROJECTS OVERSEAS IN THAT IT INVOLVED A TOTAL AND COMPLETE REBUILDING OF EVERY SINGLE PIECE OF RAILWAY INFRASTRUCTURE, PROVIDING AS ITS END PRODUCT VIRTUALLY A TOTALLY NEW RAILWAY' IN EVERY RESPECT.
+AS A RESULT THE WORK CONTENT PER ROUTE KILOMETRE IS FAR IN EXCESS OF ANYTHING IN MY PAST EXPERIENCE AND IS HAVING TO BE TACKLED WITH DESPERATELY LIMITED PHYSICAL AND MATERIAL RESOURCES, MR HOWES SAID.
HOWEVER, MR_HOWES SAID, WHEN THE WORK IS COMPLETED, THE LEAP FROM THE 19TH TO THE 21ST CENTURY WOULD BE COMPLETE.
HONG KONG WOULD HAVE A DOUBLE-TRACK RAILWAY WITH MUCH HIGHER TRAIN SPEEDS, A SERVICE FREQUENCY INCREASED BY NEARLY 16 TIMES IN PEAK HOURS AND NINE TIMES IN OFF-PEAK PERIODS, STATION STOPS OF ABOUT 30 SECONDS, A RELATIVELY QUIET RAILWAY COMPARED WITH THE OLD DIESEL LOCOMOTIVES AND A RAILWAY FULLY FENCED FROM END TO END.
MR HOWES SAID THAT REBUILDING THE KCR WAS A CHALLENGING PROJECT, BUT THE REWARDS WERE GREAT.
+DESPITE ALL THE MANIFOLD PROBLEMS AND THE FACT THAT NOW NEARLY EVERY INGREDIENT IS ON THE CRITICAL PATH THERE IS NO REASON TO SUPPOSE THAT WE SHALL NOT ACHIEVE OUR TARGET DATES FOR THE TWO STAGES OF THE INTRODUCTION OF THE NEW ELECTR IF IED SERVICES BROADLY SPEAKING ON SCHEDULE.*
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