creasing, but the whole of Kowloon and most of Victoria and the Peak are now supplied with gas. New appliances, such as cookers and geysers, have been imported to the value of $700,000 and $97,000 has been spent on new meters.
Tramways.
The electric tramcar services operated by Hong Kong Tram- ways Limited serve the industrial, city and main residential areas over routes, totalling 10 miles upon the northern shore of the Island, almost entirely laid as double permanent-way and exceed- ing 19 miles of track.
The main task of rehabilitation which faced the Company, with only 15 cars of its rolling-stock fleet left in a mobile condition upon the re-occupation of the Colony in September, 1945, has been completed. At the close of 1948 a daily operation of 100 tramcars (all of saloon-top double-deck construction) were in regular service against a normal daily service of 92 passengers cars in the year 1941.
In the progress of rehabilitation various tech- nical, constructional and traffic-safety improvements have been incorporated. The more pressing problems of procurement of equipment and material supplies which hitherto retarded full recovery of pre-war standards were substantially overcome towards the end of the year.
With one or two specific exceptions such as electric traction motors of improved specification, long awaited equipment is now reaching the undertaking. New and additional tramcars are approaching completion in the Company's workshops and will be in public service during the early months of 1949. În conjunction with the Public Works Department construction of a raised and widened roadway between Causeway Bay terminus and King's Road, an entirely new and realigned double-track permanent-way has been laid down, with foundations of the former track line abandoned at the old levels .The Company now has in project the completion of double-tracking certain remaining short sections of single-track at the eastern end of Shaukiwan Road. Since 1945 the permanent-way of the Tramways has been restored to very high overall standards of condition and maintainance.
An average of 96 tramcars was operated throughout the year against an average of 80 for 1947. Nearly 88
88 million passengers were carried by the company's services being 21 million more than in the previous year. This represents a traffic of some eight millions greater than in 1941.
Very considerable expansion throughout the operational, works and maintenance departments has followed these develop- ments. An example is that a car-crew of four men including
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