TUESDAY, JULY 15, 1986
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TRAM DEPOT RELOCATION PLAN ENDORSED
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THE GOVERNOR IN COUNCIL HAS APPROVED A PLAN BY HONGKONG TRAMWAYS LIMITED (HKT) TO RELOCATE ITS DEPOT FACILITIES FROM SHARP STREET EAST, WAN CHAI, TO TWO NEW SITES AT SAI YING PUN AND SAI WAN HO.
A GOVERNMENT SPOKESMAN SAID THE TRAVELLING PUBLIC WILL STAND TO BENEFIT FROM THE DEPOT RELOCATION PLAN AS HKT HAD UNDERTAKEN NOT TO INCREASE FARES BEFORE THE END OF 1988 IF COSTS RISE AT THE AVERAGE PREDICTED INFLATION RATE OF SIX PER CENT.
WITHOUT THE RELOCATION PLAN, IT IS ESTIMATED THAT TRAM FARES WILL HAVE TO GO UP BY 20 CENTS IN 1988 IN VIEW OF INCREASING OPERATING COSTS. THE RELOCATION OF DEPOT FACILITIES WILL HELP HKT SAVE 7.5 PER CENT OF ITS OPERATING COSTS, OR $3.5 MILLION A YEAR, THUS DEFERRING THE NEED FOR A FARE INCREASE BY ANOTHER YEAR.
COSTS ARE SAVED MAINLY THROUGH THE ELIMINATION OF UNECONOMIC TRIPS FROM AND TO THE SHARP STREET EAST DEPOT, WHICH IS LOCATED AT THE MIDDLE OF THE TRAMWAY, BEFORE AND AFTER THE SCHEDULED HOURS OF OPERATION,
AT PRESENT, TRIPS BY EARLY MORNING AND LATE NIGHT TRAMS LEAVING AND RETURNING TO THE DEPOT ACCOUNT FOR ABOUT EIGHT PER CENT OF THE TOTAL DAILY MILEAGE COVERAGE BY TRAMS.
THIS PROBLEM OF WASTE MILEAGE WILL BE OVERCOME WHEN THE DEPOT FACILITIES ARE MOVED TO SAI YING PUN AND SAI WAN HO, WHICH ARE NEARER TO BOTH ENDS OF THE TRAMWAY. REDUCED TRACK WEAR AND FEWER OVERTIME PAYMENTS WILL ALSO HELP CUT COSTS.
THE GOVERNMENT SPOKESMAN ALSO NOTED THAT THE MAINTENANCE OF LOW TRAM FARES WILL STRENGTHEN THE VIABILITY OF THE TRAMWAY AND THAT THE ABILITY OF THE TRAMWAY TO WITHSTAND COMPETITION FROM THE MTR ISLAND LINE EMPHASISES THE IMPORTANCE OF CHEAP FARES TO A SHORT-HAUL MODE OF TRANSPORT.
MOREOVER, THE SHARP STREET EAST DEPOT IS LOCATED IN A RESIDENTIAL AREA AND THE NOISE CAUSED BY OVERNIGHT MAINTENANCE AND THE MOVEMENT OF EMPTY TRAMS LATE AT NIGHT AND EARLY IN THE MORNING IN AND OUT OF THE DEPOT HAS LONG BEEN A NUISANCE TO NEARBY RESIDENTS.
AT THE SAI YING PUN AND SAI WAN HO SITES, THE PROBLEM OF NOISE NUISANCE SHOULD BE MINIMAL AS BOTH ARE SHIELDED FROM RESIDENTIAL BUILDINGS BY EITHER HIGHWAY VIADUCTS OR OTHER BUILDINGS. THE TENANCY AGREEMENTS WILL ALSO CARRY RESTRICTIONS ON MAXIMUM NOISE LEVELS AT THE DEPOT BOUNDARIES.
THE SPOKESMAN POINTED OUT THAT THE ELIMINATION OF EARLY AND LATE TRAM MOVEMENTS FROM AND TO SHARP STREET EAST WILL HAVE A BENEFICIAL IMPACT THROUGHOUT THE TRAMWAY CORRIDOR, WHERE SOME 300 000 PEOPLE LIVE WITHIN EARSHOT OF THE LINE.
/HE SAID THE
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