ENG-1954 — Page 227

HONG KONG ANNUAL REPORT, 1954

compared with 1683 million in 1953 and covered 173 million miles which exceeded the figure for 1953 by 11 million miles. The Company received delivery of 20 new double decker buses during the year which were introduced on various routes.

A new service from Lai Chi Kok to Kowloon City was initiated and the services from Shum Shui Po to Kowloon City, and Yuen Long to Wong Koi Shan were extended to Ngau Tau Kok and Castle Peak respectively.

Ferries

The "Star" Ferry Company Ltd., operates a passenger ferry service across the narrowest part of the harbour, a distance of approximately one mile, from a point in the centre of Victoria to Tsim Sha Tsui at the southern extremity of the Kowloon Peninsula. Seven vessels are in service and operate daily for 19 hours. A five-minute service taking eight minutes to cross is maintained during the day, and a regular service until well past midnight. Approximately 35 million passen- gers were carried in 131,000 crossings during the year, the average daily load being 96,000 persons.

The Hong Kong and Yaumati Ferry Co. main- tained five ferry services inside the harbour and five services to outlying districts. 74,830,000 passengers and over 1,127,000 vehicles-the latter figure an increase of 51,000 over last year-were carried across the harbour during 1954. The Company initiated an augmented service of five vehicle-carrying vessels on a 7 minute schedule but congestion was still normal on Sundays, public holidays and during rush hours on week days.

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