1968-1969 — Page 6

GENERAL SURVEY

THE flow of goods from China, which was checked in 1967, recovered its momentum during the year under review (see Appendix XVII). This is reflected in the earnings for the year which show a considerable improvement over the results attained in the previous financial year, as the following figures indicate:

(a) Gross Railway revenue $14,976,865 was $2,383,678 more than

in 1967-68.

(b) Goods revenue $6,821,346 was $2,079,627 more than in 1967-68. (c) Goods tonnage 819,354 was 252,902 more than in 1967-68.

2. Over 99% of the goods traffic consists of imports from China, which this year reached a total of 817,544 metric tons, 44.91% greater than in the previous year.

3. The export tonnage of goods was 1,132, a decrease of 20.56%. Goods carried to an from stations other than Lo Wu amounted to 679 metric tons.

4. A feature of the traffic by rail has long been the importation of pigs and this year the number was 1,013,336 head, an increase of 199,006 head over the previous year.

5. The total number of passengers carried in 1968-69 was 9,649,084 as against 9,279,192 in the previous year, an increase of 3.99%, which established a new record (see Appendix XV). Of these 9,013,994 were local passengers, which was also a new record, (see Appendix XVI) and 635,090 persons travelled to and from China. The increase in local passengers, which represents an increase of 3.72% over the previous year, is a continuation of the upward trend prior to 1967. The movement of non-local passengers, however, is dependent on conditions in China and fluctuates unpredictably (see Appendix XIV).

6. Passenger journeys for any one day reached a new record of 121,357 on 5th April, 1968, the Ching Ming Festival Day. A large number of passengers was also carried during the Chung Yeung Festival, the Dragon Boat Festival and the Chinese New Year.

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