ENG-2009 — Page 310

242 Transport

In addition, MTRCL provides inter-city through-train services from Hong Kong to cities in Guangdong, Shanghai and Beijing.

Tramway

Electric trams have been running on Hong Kong Island since 1904. Hongkong Tramways Limited runs six routes on 13 kilometres of double tracks along the northern shore of Hong Kong Island between Kennedy Town and Shau Kei Wan, and about three kilometres of single track around Happy Valley.

The company's 164 trams, including two open-balcony trams for tourists and private hire and one special maintenance tram, make up the world's largest fleet of double-deck trams in operation. The tramway records a daily average of 231 000 passenger trips.

Peak Tram

Hong Kong's other tramway is a cable-hauled funicular railway operated by the Peak Tramways Company Limited from Central (Garden Road) to the Peak. The 1.4- kilometre line began operation in 1888 and was modernised in 1989. The Peak Tram records an average of 13 300 passenger trips a day, made mostly by tourists and local sightseers.

Other Road-based Passenger Transport

The other road-based passenger transport modes mainly franchised buses, public light buses, taxis and residents' services of non-franchised buses for 60 per cent of all public transport journeys.

Franchised Buses

account

Franchised buses are the largest road-based carriers and account for about 34 per cent of the total daily public transport volume. Bus services in Kowloon and the New Territories are largely provided by the Kowloon Motor Bus Company (1933) Limited (KMB). At year-end, the company operated 317 bus routes in Kowloon and the New Territories and 60 cross-harbour routes on its own. It also operated 29 and 21 cross-harbour routes jointly with New World First Bus Services Limited (NWFB) and Citybus Limited (CTB) respectively.

At year-end, the company had a licensed fleet of 3 879 buses, of which 3 700 were air-conditioned and 1925 were wheelchair-accessible. KMB recorded 965 million passenger trips (a daily average of 2.64 million passenger trips) covering 321 million kilometres of roads during the year.

Bus services on Hong Kong Island are provided by NWFB and CTB. At year-end, NWFB was operating 52 bus routes on Hong Kong Island, eight in Kowloon and Tseung Kwan O and 33 cross-harbour routes, 29 of which were run jointly with KMB. It had a licensed fleet of 705 air-conditioned buses, of which 564 were wheelchair-accessible.

NWFB recorded 172 million passenger trips (a daily average of 470 900 passenger trips) covering 48.78 million kilometres of roads.