XN000022-1981-06-10 — Page 14

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 16, 1981

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ALTHOUGH MANY MORE TRAINS WILL USE THE NEW LINE, THE ELECTRIC MULTIPLE UNITS WILL BE MUCH QUIETER THAN THE DIESEL LOCOMOTIVES THEY REPLACE AND WILL NOT POLLUTE THE AIR-

THE INTERCHANGE STATION AT KOWLOON TONG WILL LINK THE KCR WITH THE MASS TRANSIT RAILWAY.

IN ESSENCE, THE KCR WILL HANDLE BULK MOVEMENT FROM THE NEW TERRITORIES TO THE URBAN CENTRE WHILE THE MTR HANDLES DETAILED DISTRIBUTION

IN THE URBAN AREA.

MR HOWES NOTED THAT THERE HAD BEEN MANY PROBLEMS INVOLVED IN BALANCING THE RUNNING OF THE PRESENT RAILWAY WITH THE NEEDS OF BUILDING THE NEW ONE.

FOR EXAMPLE, HE SAID, MUCH OF THE PHYSICAL WORK HAD TO BE CONCENTRATED INTO THE PERIOD WHEN THE KCR WAS CLOSED. ROUGHLY FROM MIDNIGHT TO 5 AM EACH DAY.

THERE HAD ALSO BEEN A NEED FOR TEMPORARY SPEED RESTRICTIONS, BUT IN GENERAL THE KCR HAD MAINTAINED A REASONABLE STANDARD OF SERVICE.

MR HOWES SAID RAILWAYS THROUGHOUT THE WORLD WERE RIGHTLY PROUD OF THE IR EXCELLENT SAFETY RECORD. THE KCR, DESPITE SOME RECENT PROBLEMS, HAD A SAFETY RECORD BETTER THAN MOST.

+ABSOLUTE SAFETY DOES NOT EXIST,+ HE SAID, +MODERN TECHNOLOGY WITH ALL ITS SOPHISTICATION HAS NOT YET REACHED A POINT WHERE THE POSSIBILITY OF HUMAN ERROR CAN BE TOTALLY OVERCOME.

+HOWEVER, THE TECHNOLOGY BEING BUILT INTO THE NEW RAILWAY WILL REDUCE THE POSSIBILITY OF HUMAN ERROR TO AN ENORMOUS EXTENT COMPARED WITH THE EXISTING RAILWAY,+

MR HOWES SAID THE KCR'S 25 000 VOLT OVERHEAD ELECTRICITY LINE WAS ENTIRELY SAFE, PROVIDED PEOPLE BEHAVED SENSIBLY AND RESPONSIBLY.

POWER WILL BE TURNED ON TO THE FIRST SECTION OF THE LINE BEACON HILL TUNNEL NORTH TO RACE COURSE NORTH IN THE EARLY HOURS OF JULY 6. OTHER SECTIONS WILL BE ENERGISED PROGRESSIVELY.

MR HOWES SAID THE KCR HAD ALREADY STARTED A SAFETY CAMPAIGN WHICH WOULD BE INTENSIFIED ABOUT TWO WEEKS BEFORE THE POWER LINE WAS SWITCHED ON. THE CAMPAIGN WAS AIMED AT EVERYONE, WITH PARTICULAR EMPHASIS ON SCHOOLS NEAR THE RAILWAY.

FOR DECADES, HE SAID, HONG KONG PEOPLE HAD USED THE RAILWAY AS ALMOST A PUBLIC THOROUGHFARE. TO HELP CHANGE THIS HABIT, THE ENTIRE RAILWAY WOULD BE FENCED. PEDESTRIAN FOOTPATHS WOULD BE BUILT OUTSIDE THE FENCE AND GRADE-SEPARATED PEDESTRIAN CROSSINGS INSTALLED WHERE NECESSARY.

ALSO, TO COPE WITH THE VAST INCREASE IN LEVEL OF SERVICE AND MODERN TECHNOLOGY AND TECHNIQUES BE ING INTRODUCED INTO THE NEW RAILWAY, THE KCR IS FACED SIMULTANEOUSLY WITH A VERY LARGE RECRUITING CAMPAIGN AND MASSIVE TRAINING PROGRAMME FOR NEW ENTRANTS TO THE SERVICE.

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