TNAG-1513-FCO40-2071-Hong-Kong-Mass-Transit-Railway-Corporation-1986 — Page 7

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YOUR TELNO 2419 : PARLIAMENTARY QUESTION : MR ROBERT PARRY.

SHA TIN AND TAI PO NEW TOWNS ON THE EASTERN SIDE OF THE NEW TERRITORIES ARE AT PRESENT SERVED BY THE KOWLOON CANTON RAILWAY, WHICH PROVIDES A FULL, ELECTRIC SERVICE, AT PRESENT CARRYING ABOUT

300,000 PASSENGERS EACH DAY. THERE ARE NO PLANS AT PRESENT TO EXTEND THE MASS TRANSIT RAILWAY TO SHA TIN, ALTHOUGH A SHA TIN

LINE DID FEATURE IN THE ORIGINAL MASS TRANSIT PROPOSALS IN 1970

BEFORE THE DECISION TO UPGRADE THE KCR.

A LIGHT RAIL TRANSIT SYSTEM IS AT PRESENT BEING CONTRUCTED BY

THE KOWLOON CANTON RAILWAY CORPORATION TO SERVE TUEN MUN AND YUEN LONG IN THE WESTERN NEW TERRITORIES, AND WILL BE OPERATIONAL IN

THE LATTER HALF OF 1988. BOTH THE KOWLOON CANTON RAILWAY CORPORATION AND THE MASS TRANSIT RAILWAY CORPORATION ARE INVESTIGATING THE POSSIBILITY OF CONSTRUCTING A RAIL LINK TO JOINT THE TUEN MUN-YUEN LONG LIGHT RAIL SYSTEM WITH THE EXISTING MASS TRANSIT RAILWAY TERMINAL AT TSUEN WAN, THEREBY PROVIDING A DIRECT RAIL LINK WITH THE URBAN AREA. A DECISION ON THIS LINK IS NOT LIKELY TO BE TAKEN FOR AT LEAST TWO YEARS, BY WHICH TIME THE RESULTS OF A COMPREHENSIVE STUDY OF HONG KONG'S TRANSPORT SYSTEM AND A MORE RELIABLE FORECAST OF THE BUILD UP OF POPULATION IN THAT AREA TOWARDS THE END OF THE CENTURY WILL BE AVAILABLE. IF CONSTRUCTED IT IS MOST UNLIKELY THAT IT WILL BE IN OPERATION BEFORE THE MID-1990S.

BY WAY OF BACKGROUND INFORMATION, IT WOULD BE USEFUL TO NOTE THAT THE LIGHT RAIL TRANSIT SYSTEM (LRT) WHICH IS BEING BUILT WILL BE THE CORE OF AN INTERGRATED PUBLIC TRANSPORT SYSTEM FOR THE NORTHWEST NEW TERRITORIES. RECENTLY, THERE HAS BEEN CONTROVERSY OVER THE STATUS OF THE LRT AS THE PRINCIPAL PUBLIC TRANSPORT CARRIER IN THAT PART OF THE TERRITORY AND THE WITHDRAWAL OF COMPETING BUS SERVICES. CRITICS OF THE SYSTEM HAVE LABELLED IT AS A MONOPOLY WHICH WOULD DEPRIVE PEOPLE OF THE RIGHT TO CHOOSE THEIR PREFERRED MODE OF PUBLIC TRANSPORT.

IF QUESTIONED ON THE APPARENT MONOPOLY OF THE LRT, IT WOULD BE NECESSARY TO POINT OUT THAT THE LRT WOULD ONLY REPLACE THE EXISTING BUS SERVICE IN THE NORTHWEST NEW TERRITORIES AND THAT IT WOULD ENJOY NO MORE MONOPOLY THAN THE FRANCHISED BUS COMPANIES AT THE MOMENT. THE UNIQUE FEATURE OF THE PUBLIC TRANSPORT SYSTEM IN THE NORTHWEST NEW TERRITORIES, HOWEVER, IS THE USE OF OTHER MODES OF PUBLIC TRANSPORT AS FEEDERS TO THE LRT. THIS WOULD ONLY INCREASE THE AREAS TO BE SERVED BY THE LRT NETWORK. THIS IS

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