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7.2.5 in order to better serve the developing new towns of the. North East NewTerritories—-Sha Tin, Tai Po, Sheung Shui and Fanling, a decision was made in 1 978tc5nrfocrBIeTrack and electrify the Sine. The Kowloon-Canton"'Raiiway Corporation(KCRC) was formed in 1983 to take over the operation of the line from Government.The first electric trains ran in 1982 and daily patronage has since increased ten-foldfrom pre-electrification levels to about 400 000 passengers per day in 1 988.7.2.6 Patronage is expected to continue to increase as the population growth of the NewTerritories continues, doubling the 1986 volumes by the end of the century. Withadditional rolling stock and improved signalling, these line volumes are manageable,although platform access at some stations would need improvement. Several railprojects were considered by CTS-2 to extend KCR passenger services; these arediscussed later in this chapter.Mass Transit Railway (MTR)7.2.7 Construction of the MTR started in 1975 based on plans initially proposed in the late1960s. The first line between Kwun Tong in Kowioon and Central on Hong KongIsland was opened in stages between October 1979 and February 1980. Two furtherlines have since been opened: the Tsuen Wan Line in 1982 and the Hong KongIsland Line in 1985 (extended in 1986). The Kwun Tong line is currently beingextended across the harbour to Quarry Bay as part of the Eastern Harbour Crossingand is due to open in 1 989.7.2.8 The MTR currently carries some 1.8 million passengers per day and growthcontinues to be strong. Demand is particularly high in the morning and evening peakhours when the Nathan Road Corridor section of the Tsuen Wan Line reaches itscapacity, it is expected that the opening of the Eastern Harbour Crossing willalleviate the overloading problem for a while but traffic in that corridor is expected toreturn to the current levels in the early 1990s. CTS-2 examined several projects toextend the MTR and to provide additional capacity in the urban areas; these arediscussed later in this chapter.7.2.9 If no new lines are built to relieve congestion, management measures to regulatedemand during the peak periods may have to be considered. Also, fare adjustmentscould be made to encourage maximum use of the Eastern Harbour Crossing. Thesesubjects are discussed in greater detail in Chapter 8.Light Rail Transit (LR T)7.2.10 The North-west Railway, known more familiarly as the LRT (Light Rail Transit), isthe most recent addition to the rail services, opening in September 1988. it isoperated by KCRC within a defined Transit Service Area (TSA) linking the two newtowns of Tuen Mun and Yuen Long and providing services within those towns.Communities within the TSA located away from the tracks are served by feederbuses to the LRT, also operated by KCRC and by minibus and taxi services.7.2.11 The 23 kilometre system has been built entirely at-grade, mostly in separate roadsidereservations but with some street running in housing estates. Stops are relativelyclosely spaced (at about every 580 metres) and journey speeds averaged 20 km/hon opening.7.2.12 The LRT patronage has increased steadily since opening, but it is too early tocomment on the overall performance. Extensions are planned within the TransitService Area, in particular linking in the New Town of Tin Shui Wai and the newhousing estates to the south-east of Tuen Mun. The complete LRT system isexpected to carry over 500 QQCtpassengers per day by 2001, compared with about160 000 at the end of f98a , ' ~ "7.2.13 CTS-2 did not examine any further additions to the LRT within the existing TransitService Area but did examine possibilities for linking the LRT to the main urban areaas well as the potential for LRT services in other parts of the Territory. These arediscussed later in this Chapter.121