ENG-1950 — Page 105

covered wagons, a weigh-bridge and numerous new machines which arrived in the course of the year. Passengers carried numbered 6,254,358, an increase of 1,506,612 over 1949, while goods tonnage amounted to 342,963 tons, an increase of 299,666 tons.

The reasons for the large expansion in traffic were the partial blockade of the China coast by the Nationalists and the various difficulties experienced by shipping companies operating on the Pearl River in their negotiations with the Provincial Government in Canton. These difficulties resulted in the railway becoming the principal means of communication with not only Kwangtung but areas further north. Other important and contributory causes were a growth in the population of the Colony due to unsettled conditions in China, and extensive buying and selling of raw materials, both imports and exports, in the Colony by Chinese Government trading organiza- tions.

At the close of the year, the average number of trains per day over the British Section was 30 with special trains at week-ends. More coaches are urgently required and 22 are on order, but delivery cannot be completed until 1952. In the meanwhile, the lack of adequate passenger accommodation gives serious cause for concern as trains are very overcrowded and on occasion passengers have to be turned away. The position regarding goods wagons has greatly improved and when the balance of wagons of various types on order is received, there should be sufficient to deal with normal traffic requirements.

The rehabilitation of the railway workshops which suffered heavily by looting and damage during the war has almost been completed. Most of the new machinery and equipment ordered since the war had arrived and been installed by the end of the year, and the shops are now capable of carrying out all normal maintenance repairs required by the Railway and any additional work for other Government departments which may be required.

Other rehabilitation, such as arrears of maintenance of stations, buildings and bridges as a result of the war years, was completed during the year. Progress on the re-railing of the permanent way was however delayed owing to inability to obtain sleepers, but some 19,000 were eventually obtained from Thailand in the autumn.

Roads

There are approximately 426 miles of roads in the Colony, 181 miles being on the Island, 107 miles in Kowloon and 138 miles in the New Territories. About 90% of these roads are of modern metalled construction. The building and maintenance of roads are carried out by the Public Works Department and are subject to unusual topographical and climatic difficulties. Most of the Colony is hilly and the construction of a new road usually involves consider- able blasting operations, although fortunately the rock thus blasted is suitable for use as road metal. Heavy rain in the summer months generally causes damage to any road surface falling short of a high standard of maintenance, and a sum of $193,000 was spent in 1950 repairing damage of this kind.

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