ENG-2004 — Page 323

Transport 273

Public Transport

Rail, bus, ferry and other public transport services offer Hong Kong commuters a good choice of different transport modes at reasonable fares and different levels of comfort, speed and convenience.

Railways

Rail travel accounts for some 30 per cent of the total daily public transport volume. The railways in Hong Kong are built and operated by two railway corporations, the KCRC and MTRCL. The KCRC is wholly owned by the Government. The MTRCL was formerly wholly owned by the Government but was privatised in 2000 to become a listed company with the Government remaining as a major shareholder. Both corporations operate on prudent commercial principles providing efficient, reliable and safe passenger rail services to the public.

The KCR was commissioned in 1910. It is the oldest railway system in Hong Kong. It was formerly operated by the Government until the KCRC's establishment in 1982. The KCRC now runs East Rail (including Ma On Shan Rail), West Rail and Light Rail and provides feeder bus services and inter-city rail services.

East Rail, with its terminal extended from Hung Hom to East Tsim Sha Tsui on October 24, now runs from East Tsim Sha Tsui to Lo Wu at the boundary. There are 14 stations along the 35-kilometre route and the railway carries an average of nearly 800 000 passengers daily. In recent years, the KCRC has made rapid progress in a number of capital projects on East Rail, including the train refurbishment project, commissioning of new trains, noise reduction project and upgrading of the signalling system.

Ma On Shan Rail, which is part of the East Rail Extensions project, was commissioned on December 21 to serve the Ma On Shan and Sha Tin areas. There are nine stations along the 11.4-kilometre route which carries about 89 000 passengers daily.

West Rail runs from West Kowloon to Yuen Long and Tuen Mun. It started operation on December 20, 2003. There are nine stations along the 30.5-kilometre route and the railway carries an average of more than 130 000 passengers daily.

Light Rail, which started operation in 1988, provides local public transport in the north-western New Territories. Light Rail carries nearly 360 000 passengers daily. To enable Light Rail to effectively integrate with West Rail, three stops were upgraded and a new one was built to provide convenient interchanges with West Rail. An extension of Light Rail to the newly developed Tin Shui Wai Reserve Zone came into operation in December 2003.

To enhance the operational efficiency and safety of Light Rail, the KCRC completed the Light Rail Grade Separation works at Tsing Lun Road, Tuen Mun. The project included construction of a 300-metre Light Rail viaduct crossing over the junction between Light Rail and road traffic at Tsing Lun Road, and a pedestrian footbridge with a lift to the west of the Light Rail viaduct. In addition to the alleviation of road traffic during peak hours, the viaduct can reduce the journey time.