ENG-1958 — Page 268

PUBLIC UTILITIES AND PUBLIC WORKS

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Twin under-water gas mains were laid across the Harbour in 1958 to connect the Kowloon and Island areas of supply. Work is now proceeding on the construction of an additional plant at Ma Tau Kok which will use oil for gas-making, instead of coal. When the new oil gas plant is complete and in operation, the West Point Works will be closed down and all Island gas requirements will be pumped across the Harbour from Ma Tau Kok. At present about one-third of the Island's requirements are coming from Ma Tau Kok.

Gas main extensions are in hand to the east and west of the Kowloon area of supply and other extensions are increasing the areas supplied with gas.

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Total quantity of gas sold in 1958 was 712,429,500 cu. ft. compared with 675,964,900 cu. ft. in 1957. The number of con- sumers rose from 10,311 to 11,352.

Tramways. An electric tramway service is operated by Hong- kong Tramways Ltd. on Hong Kong Island. The track, the gauge of which is 3 feet, is about 19 miles in length when calculated on a single track basis. It extends from Kennedy Town to Shau Kei Wan with a branch line encircling the Race Course in Happy Valley. All routes pass through the City of Victoria. The tramcars are of the four-wheeled, double-deck, single-staircase type and are intended for single-ended working, the termini having turning circles. The operating voltage is 500 volts direct current.

The average daily service of cars run in 1958 was 138. This provided a car every two minutes in each direction on all routes. Through the city area, which is in the centre of the system, the minimum service frequency was a car every 35 seconds in each direction. The number of passengers carried during the year was over 173,500,000, while the total mileage run was slightly over 7,500,000.

Fares are charged at a flat rate for any distance over any route (the maximum route length is 63 miles) of 20 cents (3d.) 1st class, and 10 cents (14d.) 3rd class. The Company also issues monthly tickets, and concession fares are given to children, students and Services personnel.

The Peak Tramway, operated by the Peak Tramways Co., Ltd., was opened for traffic in May 1888, and was then known as the