The Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation (九廣鐵路公司), frequently abbreviated to KCRC or just KCR, is wholly owned by the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government and based in Hong Kong. It is a public corporation concerned with the task of operating and developing railway services within and to/from Hong Kong. The current chairman of the board is Michael Tien.

Routes

2005 route map of the Hong Kong part of KCRC

Within Hong Kong the network has the following major systems:

• East Rail: From East Tsim Sha Tsui to Lo Wu. Originally the Kowloon-Canton Railway.
• Light Rail: Light rail service within and between the new towns of Tuen Mun, Yuen Long and Tin Shui Wai.
• West Rail: From Nam Cheong to Tuen Mun.
• Ma On Shan Rail: From Tai Wai to Wu Kai Sha.

All of these lines are supported by feeder buses operated by Kowloon Motor Bus or the KCRC itself.

In addition there are intercity services to and from Guangzhou and other cities. These are less frequent, ca. once an hour. Route map (http://www.kcrc.com/eng/services/services/itts_route.asp)

History of the KCRC

The East Rail is part of the Kowloon-Canton Railway, which connects Kowloon to Guangzhou (formerly called Canton). It opened for service in 1910 as a single track system. At that time, trains went from Sha Tin station in Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon through the New Territories and up to the border at Lo Wu. Historically, the part within Hong Kong boundary is British Section; from Lo Wu to Canton, on the contrary, is Chinese Section. After the decision to build West Rail, the "British Section" is renamed to East Rail.

East Rail trains were originally steam powered, but diesel trains were gradually introduced during the 1950's, and by 1962 they had fully replaced all steam trains. In 1973, a moderisation programme was began which included double tracking and electrifying the railway. The first stage of electrification was completed with the start of an inner suburban service between Kowloon Tong station and Sha Tin station on 6 May 1982. One year later, on 15 July 1983 the final section of the railway to Lo Wu was completed and opened by the then Governor, Sir Edward Youde.

The railway had been operated as a department of the government, but in December of 1982, the Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation Ordinance was enacted, creating the KCRC. The KCRC continues to be wholly government owned and its operations are monitored by a managing board, members of which are appointed by the chief executive of Hong Kong.

The KCRC expanded its operations in 1984, accepting the government's invidation to build and operate the Light Rail network in the New Territories, which came into service in September of 1988. The KCRC started to develop and lease property around the same time. The frst joint-venture property development, Pierhead Garden, was completed in 1988. Today, profits generated from property and commercial services are used to fund railway service improvement projects and other strategic initiatives.

Projects currently under construction include a spur line running from Sheung Shui to Lok Ma Chau to create a second border crossing.

The West Rail, opened on December 20, 2003, has been criticised by passengers with its relatively high fare, inconvenient station locations, and failure to connect to the heart of the urban area. Due to its relative lack of advantages to the bus, the actual number of passengers that use the West Rail has been less than expected, generating a great loss for the KCRC.

At the end of 2004, two extensions were commissioned: the extension of the East Rail from the Hung Hom terminus to Tsim Sha Tsui East was opened on October 24, 2004; and the Ma On Shan extension, which will link Ma On Shan with the East Rail at Tai Wai was opened on December 23, 2004

The KCRC has also made proposals to plan, build, and operate the Kowloon Southern Link receiving permission for the project from the government on September 24, 2002. The Kowloon Southern Link will connect the West Rail Nam Cheong station with the East Rail Tsim Sha Tsui East station. On June 25, 2002 the government announced that KCRC had won its bid to build and operate the Sha Tin to Central Link. When the line is completed , the KCRC will cross Victoria Harbour and reach Hong Kong Island for the first time.

There has been some discussion of merging the KCRC and the MTR to make the territory's transport system more efficient. The MTR backs such a merge while the KCRC opposes the plan. In March 2004, the Hong Kong government officially encouraged the two organizations to merge.

Fares

Currently, there are two different fare classes on the KCRC: Adult and concessionary. Only children below the age of 12, senior citizens 65 years or older, or full-time Hong Kong students between the ages of 12 and 25 qualify for the concessionary rate.

There are two payment methods:

• Octopus card
• Single Journey Ticket

Octopus Cards

An Octopus add value machine in a KCRC station. People add money to their Octopus cards using these machines.

Since 1998, the KCRC has operated the Octopus (八達通, literally "eight-direction thoroughfare") Access Control System as the main payment method for travel on the KCRC system. Octopus cards are rechargeable, contactless smart cards, thus money is digitally stored in the card, and the amount can be automatically calculated and deducted by Octopus card readers. The system was originally introduced by the MTR and proved so popular that the KCRC adopted it. it has been extended to different services such as minibus services, regular buses such as the Kowloon Motor Bus, Citybus, supermarkets, and fast food restaurants. It has the potential to be further developed in other fields of services. The older, traditional magnetic ticketing system is also still in use for single journeys.

See also:

• Transportation in Hong Kong
• List of Chinese companies
• List of buildings, sites and areas in Hong Kong
• List of Hong Kong KCRC stations

External links

• Official Site (http://www.kcrc.com/)