TNAG-0854-FCO40-1064-The-Kowloon-Canton-Railway-1979 — Page 20

MÊRCIAL: IN CONFIDENCE

THE PERMANENT SECRETARY

SIR PETER BALDWIN, KCB

S. ALGOT

John an

action regal,

DEPARTMENT OF

TRANSPORT

2 MARSHAM STREET LONDON SWIP 3ER

34

01-212 4581

19%.

19 November 1979

Sir Peter Parker MVO Chairman

British Railways Board 222 Marylebone Road LONDON NW1

My dear Retir

HKK 173

SALUSTE NO. 51

3 DEC 1979

CHINA, HONG KONG AND FREIGHTLINER

TED

13

ci

ARED MAED

FEC 121/25, Murray

Min Brown

PS / Pus

Here is another offering from my visit to Hong Kong and China in the last couple of weeks. We had said that we would like some discussions about ports, and a visit was arranged for us to Whampoa where we met chief officers of the Harbour Authority. We had started with the simple idea that there might be developments in Chinese ports for which experience of port development in this country would prove relevant - Felixstowe, Immingham, Sull Voe and so on. We had port equipment in mind. But dicussion showed that we ought to be thinking about something rather different.

There is a large container port in Hong Kong. But this supplies Hong Kong itself, and there is no rail link with it. The Kowloon-Canton line is not far away in distance but is divided from it by some mountains, as you know.

There is a

The contrast with Whampoa is interesting. small and crude facility which United States Lines use for loading and unloading containers. This is in the old port, which is the one furthest upstream. But it has the advantage that there are railway lines on the quay side which connect

The straightaway with the main railway network of China. Harbour Authority is already working on a development further down stream which can take ships of 35,000 tons, and while we have not seen this except in the distance it seems likely to offer a much better facility for containers to come in and go out by ship while still providing a convenient link with the main railway. If this happens it could take away a good deal of trade which might otherwise have passed through

Su

21/11

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