XN000022-1981-08-18 — Page 2

TUESDAY, AUGUST 18, 1981

MODERNISED RAILWAY EQUAL TO BEST ANYWHERE

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THE MODERNISED KOWLOON-CANTON RAILWAY WOULD OFFER A SUBURBAN SERVICE EQUAL TO THE MOST MODERN IN THE WORLD, THE CONTROLLER OF RAILWAY DEVELOPMENT, PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT, MR D.M. HOWES, SAID TODAY.

HE TOLD THE ROTARY CLUB OF HONG KONG, THAT THE INNER SUBURBAN SERVICE BETWEEN KOWLOON AND SHA TIN WAS SCHEDULED TO OPEN IN THE SPRING OF 1982, WHILE THE OUTER SUBURBAN SERVICE THROUGH TO LO WU SHOULD BE OPERATING BY THE BEGINNING OF 1983.

HE DESCRIBED THE DIFFICULTIES OF REBUILDING THE RAILWAY IN SITE.

+AT PRESENT, THE WHOLE RAILWAY FROM KOWLOON THROUGH TO LO WU IS VIRTUALLY A CONTINUOUS BUILDING SITE WITH A VERY LARGE NUMBER OF MAIN CONTRACTORS AT WORK, HE SAID.

*THE WORK CONTENT PER ROUTE KILOMETRE IS FAR IN EXCESS OF ANYTHING IN MY OWN 45 YEARS OF RAILWAY SERVICE AND GREATER THAN THE MODERNISATION/ELECTRIFICATION OF THE WEST COAST MAIN LINE FROM LONDON TO GLASGOW IN THE UK,+ MR HOWES SAID.

HE NOTED THAT THERE WERE NO DIVERSIONARY ROUTES WHICH WOULD ALLOW SECTIONS OF THE RAILWAY TO BE CLOSED FOR REBUILDING.

+THE REALITY IS THAT ALL THE PHYSICAL WORK OF REBUILDING AFFECTING THE OPERATION OF THE ON-GOING RAILWAY HAS TO BE COMPRESSED INTO A PERIOD OF ONLY FIVE HOURS OUT OF EACH 24 FROM ROUGHLY MIDNIGHT TO 5 AM, WHEN THE RAILWAY IS COMMERCIALLY CLOSED.+

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GIVEN SUCH CONSTRAINTS AND ITS EXISTING RESOURCES, THE KCR WAS OPERATING THE MAXIMUM POSSIBLE TRAIN SERVICE, BUT THERE WAS INCREASING EVIDENCE OF UNSATISIFIED DEMAND AND OVERCROWDING ON TRAINS.

+IN SHORT, THE EXISTING RAILWAY IS ALREADY BEING ASKED TO PERFORM, UNDER EXTREMELY DIFFICULT CIRCUMSTANCES, THE TASK OF HANDLING A TRAFFIC VOLUME ABOVE ITS DESIGN CAPABILITY.

+ I THINK IT IS TO THE GREAT CREDIT OF ALL RANKS OF THE KCR THAT THEY ARE MANAGING TO MAINTAIN A REASONABLE STANDARD OF SERVICE DURING THE REBUILDING PERIOD.+

A MAJOR TASK WAS THE RETRAINING OF KCR STAFF AND TRAINING OF NEW RECRUITS. THE NUMBER OF STAFF WOULD RISE FROM ABOUT 1 200 TO SOME 1 800.

+FORTUNATELY, KCR STAFF, WITH THE BENEFIT OF A LARGE NUMBER OF EXPERIENCED RAILWAYMEN, HAVE SHOWN TREMENDOUS APTITUDE IN LEARNING NEW TECHNOLOGY AND PREVENTIVE MAINTENANCE TECHNIQUES, + MR HOWES SAID.

/BY THE