ENG-1990 — Page 288

TRANSPORT

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Railways

There are five rail systems, including a heavily-utilised underground mass transit railway metro, a busy suburban railway, a modern light railway, a traditional street tramway and a mountainside funicular. Important improvements to these systems were made and patronage on the rail systems generally increased during the year.

Mass Transit Railway

The Mass Transit Railway Corporation (MTRC) operates a three-line metro system comprising 43 route-kilometres with 38 stations served by 671 cars formed into eight-car trains. Trains run at two-minute intervals in peak periods on the Tsuen Wan line and every two and a quarter minutes on the Kwun Tong line to the west of Kwun Tong. On the Island line 2.5-minute headways are maintained in peak periods. At off-peak times during the day trains run every four minutes on all lines.

Patronage has continued to increase, and by the end of the year the MTRC was carrying 2.1 million passengers a day. In relation to the length of the system it is the busiest underground railway in the world.

The success of the MTRC depends heavily on interchange arrangements between lines and connections with other modes. There are six stations which offer interchanges between lines, while 81 dedicated feeder bus and green minibus routes help to bring passengers to the railway. Multi-storey car parks are also provided adjacent to the stations at Kwai Fong, Tsuen Wan, Sheung Wan, Tin Hau and Central. Fares ranged from $3 to $7.

Kowloon-Canton Railway

The Kowloon-Canton Railway (British Section) was opened in 1910 and was double- tracked and electrified in the early 1980s. Formerly a government department, it was vested in the Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation (KCRC) in February 1983.

Although the 34-kilometre railway caters for freight trains to and from China and for four daily passenger through trains each way between Kowloon and Guangzhou, it principally provides a suburban service to the new towns of the north-eastern New Territories. This traffic has grown substantially throughout the period since the first electric trains were introduced in 1982, and by the end of 1990 the railway handled around 500 000 passenger journeys daily. Peak period average headways range from five minutes at the northern end of the line to every three minutes between Sha Tin and Kowloon. Passenger traffic is carried in a fleet of over 300 train cars which are now assembled in formations of up to 12 cars. A new station was opened at Tai Wo in May 1989, bringing the number of stations to 13. To cope with rising passenger demand, a programme of improvements to stations continued during the year, providing for platform awning extensions, additional automatic gates and money-changing machines.

The ordinary adult fares for domestic travel now range from $2.50 to $6.00. Train patronage is helped by interchanges with other operators. The busiest station is at Kowloon Tong, where there are connections with the MTR and many feeder bus and green minibus routes. Feeder buses and green minibuses also serve most other stations, and during the year the KCRC continued to provide free feeder bus services linking Tai Po Market, Fo Tan and Mong Kok stations.

Further improvements are planned in the near future. Phase I of the Ho Tung Lau Depot and Workshops Redevelopment Project, which started in April 1989, was completed