Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation

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"KCRC" redirects here. For the rail system which the KCRC operated, see Kowloon-Canton Railway.

Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation 九廣鐵路公司

Type	Government-owned
Founded	Hong Kong, December 1982
Headquarters	Fo Tan, Hong Kong
Area served	Hong Kong
Industry	Holding
Website	http://www.kcrc.com

The Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation (KCRC; Traditional Chinese: 九廣鐵路公司) was established in 1982 under the Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation Ordinance for the purposes of operating the Kowloon-Canton Railway (KCR), and to construct and operate other new railways. On 2 December 2007, the MTR Corporation Limited, another railway operator in Hong Kong, took over the operation of the KCR network under a 50-year service concession agreement, which can be extended. Under the service concession, KCRC retains ownership of the KCR network with the MTR Corporation Limited making annual payments to KCRC for the right to operate the network. The KCRC is wholly owned by the Hong Kong Government and its activities are governed by the KCRC Ordinance as amended in 2007 by the Rail Merger Ordinance to enable the service concession agreement to be entered into with the MTR Corporation Limited.

1 History
2 Future plans
3 See also
4 External links

[edit] History

From 1910 to 1982, the KCR network was operated by the Hong Kong Government through the Kowloon-Canton Railway Council(九廣鐵路局). The Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation was created in December 1982 as the government planned to corporatise its railway department. Since its creation until 2007, the KCRC owned and operated a network of heavy rail, light rail and feeder bus routes within the territory. It was also a land developer by utilising its property development rights atop and around railway stations and depots. In December 2007, it was transformed into an assets holder. It continues to own the rail network, but the network is leased to and operated by the MTR Corporation Limited under a 50-year contract.

[edit] Birth of the corporation

The original Kowloon-Canton Railway (KCR) was opened as a rail link between Kowloon and Canton (now Guangzhou) in 1911. Its British Section (which is known currently as the East Rail Line on the MTR network) had been operated as a department of the government since its operation in 1910. In December 1982, following the passage and enactment of the Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation Ordinance (Cap 372), the Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation was created. It has always been wholly owned by the government. Its operations are monitored by a managing board. All members of the board are appointed by the chief executive of Hong Kong (the governor before 1997).

Over the years, the Kowloon-Canton Railway had been an important path to connect Hong Kong, then a British crown colony, with the rest of China. Following the development of new towns, the British Section of the railway became the major corridor to connect the new towns of Sha Tin, Tai Po and Fanling-Sheung Shui in eastern New Territories with urban Kowloon. The British Section was completely electrified and transformed into a dual-track system in 1984.

Originally planned to provide a suburban rail service, passenger service within the British Section had become much more metro-like, providing a frequent service with few seats and more standing places on its trains, although inter-city passenger and freight trains to China continue to run on its pair of tracks. In anticipation of the opening of the KCR West Rail, the British Section was renamed KCR East Rail in 1996. The names "Kowloon-Canton Railway" and "KCR" have been used to refer to the network operated by the Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation, instead of the original railway between Kowloon and Canton.

[edit] An expanding network

The KCRC expanded its operations in 1984. It accepted an invitation from the government to build and operate a light rail network in northwestern New Territories. The Light Rail Transit (LRT, known later as the KCR Light Rail and currently simply as the Light Rail) came into service in September 1988. The KCRC started to participate in property development and management at around the same time. The first joint-venture property development, the Pierhead Garden apartment blocks, was completed in 1988. Profits generated from property and commercial services were useful to fund new railway projects, improvement works and other strategic initiatives.

KCR tickets

The KCR West Rail (now the West Rail Line on the MTR network) was opened on December 20, 2003, connecting the new towns of Yuen Long, Tin Shui Wai and Tuen Mun in northwestern New Territories with urban Kowloon. Two extensions were commissioned in 2004. The KCR East Rail was extended from Hung Hom Station to East Tsim Sha Tsui Station in between Tsim Sha Tsui and Tsim Sha Tsui East. The KCR Ma On Shan Rail (now the Ma On Shan Line on the MTR network) was opened to link Ma On Shan with the East Rail at Tai Wai Station. In August 2007, the Lok Ma Chau Spur Line came into service.

[edit] Public spat between chairman and acting CEO in 2006

On March 10, 2006, with the signed support of all 5 operations directors and 19 managers, the Acting Chief Executive Officer Samuel Lai wrote to the Managing Board to complain the leadership style of the Chairman of the Board, Michael Tien. Around 80% of the staff has signed for support to Lai.

On the following day, Michael Tien met the Chief Executive of Hong Kong, Donald Tsang. In the afternoon of March 12, 2006, Tien announced his resignation, with the effective date determined by Tsang. After further negotiation, Tien withdrew his resignation and Lai resigned. James Blake, the former Secretary for Works in the Hong Kong Government and a civil engineer, took over as the Chief Executive Officer (not acting) at age 71.

The spat was seen to have sped up the government's plan to merge the operations of the two railway networks in the territory. The merger was completed in December 2007, with the MTR Corporation Limited taking over the operation of the KCR network under a 50-year lease.

[edit] Ceased to be a public transport operator

On December 2, 2007, the KCRC ceased to be a public transport operator. The rail and feeder bus network was leased to the MTR Corporation Limited under a contract with an initial period of 50 years, which may be extended. New railway lines on the KCR network currently under construction, e.g., the Kowloon Southern Link, will also be operated by the MTRCL. Furthermore, under the Sale and Purchase Agreement, the MTRCL purchased a number of KCRC properties and property management subsidiaries, the Service Concession and certain short-lived railway assets of KCRC such as stores and spares.

[edit] Future plans

The Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation, as well as the MTR Corporation Limited, had each made its proposal to plan, build, and operate a rail line between Sha Tin and Central. The Hong Kong Government announced on June 25, 2002 that KCRC had won its bid to build and operate the Sha Tin to Central Link. This line was not included in the contract under which the MTRCL leases the railway network from the KCRC. The contract covers only the existing rail lines, and those under construction by then.

According to the latest plan as indicated by the government, however, the line will be built by the MTRCL.^{[citation needed]}