XN000022-1981-06-10 — Page 13

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 10, 1981

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KCR ROLLING INTO 21ST CENTURY+

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THE REBUILT KOWLOON-CANTON RAILWAY, DESIGNED TO CARRY 500 000 PASSENGERS A DAY BY 1990, WILL BE BY ANY STANDARDS A SURFACE MASS TRANSIT RAILWAY, MR D.M. HOWES, CONTROLLER OF RAILWAY DEVELOPMENT, SAID TODAY.

SPEAKING AT A LUNCHEON OF THE LIONS CLUB OF THE PEAK, HE SAID THAT IN EFFECT, THE KCR WAS IN ONE LEAP MOVING FROM THE 19TH TO THE 21ST CENTURY.

+THE END PRODUCT WILL BE EVERY BIT AS MUCH A NEW RAILWAY AS THE MASS TRANSIT RAILWAY, MR HOWES SAID.

+PUBLIC TRANSPORT IS PROBABLY ONE OF THE MOST EMOTIVE SUBJECTS THROUGHOUT THE WORLD, BUT NOWHERE HAVE I FOUND IT SO EMOTIVE AS IN HONG KONG.

+THE PUBLIC HAVE A RIGHT TO DEMAND THAT THE VARIOUS FORMS OF PUBLIC TRANSPORT BROADLY MEET THE NEEDS OF THE COMMUNITY AND

HAT THEY ARE OPERATED EFFICIENTLY AND ECONOMICALLY. EQUALLY THERE MUST BE AN UNDERSTANDING ON THE PART OF THE PUBLIC THAT THERE IS A PRICE TO PAY FOR THE SERVICE STANDARDS THEY EXPECT.+

MR HOWES SAID THE BASIC REASON FOR THE KCR PROJECT WAS THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE NEW TOWNS ALONG THE NORTHEAST AXIS OF THE NEW TER? ITORIES.

POPULATION FORECASTS FOR SUCH CENTRES AS SHA TIN, TAI PO AND FANL ING HE ADDED, HAD INCREASED AND THERE WAS ALREADY SUBSTANTIAL EVIDENCE OF UNSATISFIED DEMAND ALONG THE RAIL ROUTE.

BETWEEN 1977 AND 1980, KCR PASSENGER VOLUME HAD INCREASED BY MORE THAN 50 PER CENT, WITHIN THAT FIGURE, TRAFFIC TO AND FROM CH IN HAD RISEN 250 PER CENT.

THE NEW KCR IS DESIGNED TO HANDLE 500 000 PASSENGERS A DAY BY 1990, ALONG WITH THREE TIMES THE PRESENT VOLUME OF FREIGHT.

MR HOWES SAID THE KCR, TO COST ABOUT $2 500 MILLION AT FIRST XA TER 1981 PRICES, WOULD IMPROVE SERVICE IN MANY WAYS:

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PERMISSIBLE MAXIMUM TRAIN SPEED WILL RISE TO

120 KPH FROM THE PRESENT 72 KPH-

SIXTEEN TRAINS AN HOUR WILL RUN EACH WAY DURING THE MORNING AND EVENING PEAKS, AND NINE TRAINS AN HOUR DURING THE REST OF THE DAY. THE PRESENT SERVICE IS ESSENTIALLY HOURLY, INCREASING TO HALF-HOURLY IN PEAK PERIODS=

JOURNEY TIMES WILL BE SLASHED. WHILE A TRAIN FROM KOWLOON TO LO WU CALLING AT ALL STATIONS NOW TAKES ABOUT ONE HOUR TEN MINUTES, THE SAME TRIP ON THE NEW KCR WILL TAKE LESS THAN 40 MINUTES, IT IS ALSO HOPED THAT SOME TRAINS WILL BE SEMI-FAST, STOPPING AT A LIMITED NUMBER OF INTERMEDIATE STATIONS-

* ALTHOUGH MANY