HONG KONG | Double-decker trams

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Source : http://www.pbase.com/clifftung/tramway

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[trainrover]

HKs trams look way cool, I'm liking them more and more.....it must be because of there being some kind of personal touch about them (although they'd look better weren't they cladded with dull ads).

[Skybean]

Here's a cute one.



source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/2810632...n/photostream/

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Christmas Tram

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By AD18 from a Hong Kong discussion forum :

[Skybean]

source: http://flickr.com/photos/vesam/sets/72157612984295712/

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兩部電車猛撞十人傷
29/01/2009




【本報訊】上環發生電車相撞意外，導致十人受傷。昨晚十時許，兩部電車沿德輔道中西行，途抵永安中心對開時，前行電車減速收慢，隨後電車疑未及停車，發生頭尾猛烈相撞，導致共六男四女受傷，包括兩名小童及一名司機，警方及救護員趕至將傷者送院，警方正查肇事原因。

[M.Schwerdtner]

mini-cargo tram

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Chance to ride into history with heritage tour of Shek Tong Tsui tram terminus
15 January 2009
South China Morning Post

If you're looking for a different art experience, historian Cheng Po-hung will lead a guided tour this Sunday on the culture and heritage of the tram terminus in Shek Tong Tsui. Presented by the Working Group on Greening and Beautification Works in Central and Western District, it will be one part of a public art project - Art-Marking-Boundaries - co-presented by the Hong Kong Arts Centre, to revitalise cultural life in the district around the tram area.

Participants will first be taken around the Central and Shek Tong Tsui area, followed by a short tram ride where Cheng will relate stories and heritage of the tram system along the way. This special one-off tour will be from 2pm to 5.30pm. Although it's free, there are some conditions. First, you must sign up through the Hong Kong Arts Centre. Also, the talk will be in Cantonese.

For registration information, e-mail mchan@hkac.org.hk. It is first-come, first-served, and successful applicants will be notified.

If you can't take part in the tram tour, there's another aspect of the project with photographer Tse Ming-chong. Assisted by four Hong Kong Art School students, he will collect pictures and people's stories about the transport system known to locals simply as the ding-ding, and eventually all the artefacts will be displayed on a mobile art tram rolling across Hong Kong starting in March.

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By AD18 from a Hong Kong discussion forum :

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Big news for HK's Tram! Wharf (Owner of HK Tramway) sells 50% shares to Veolia Transport.

Gov't Press Release:
Wharf Transport and Veolia Transport form partnership to operate Hong Kong Tramways

RTHK News:
New trams investor plans another line

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But the reclamation line has been discussed for a while now ... nothing new.

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Cautious welcome for Hong Kong tram's French owner
8 April 2009
Agence France Presse

Hong Kong's newspapers Wednesday cautiously welcomed French utility giant Veolia taking over the city's iconic tram network, but one lawmaker warned against turning it into a tourist draw.

Infrastructure conglomerate Wharf Holdings announced Tuesday it would sell half of its stake in the tramway to Veolia Environment, with the French company taking over the fleet's operations.

Most newspapers focused on protecting the heritage value of the tram, which is the only double-deck system still operating in the world and one of the most high-profile pieces of the city's colonial history.

The South China Morning Post described the Veolia takeover as heralding a "new line on an old friend," but warned about too many changes.

"(The announcement) inevitably provoked nostalgia -- and concern," the paper said.

The city's government was mindful of worries about a foreign owner.

"(The transport bureau) has stressed to Wharf and Veolia the importance of preserving the tradition of the tram service, including the overall outlook and design of the tram cars," a spokesman said in a statement.

"Veolia has assured us that it is fully committed to preserving the trams in Hong Kong recognising them as a unique piece of cultural heritage."

The Standard newspaper, through its lead columnist Mary Ma, welcomed the possibility of expanding the system to a newly reclaimed strip of land on the city's famous harbour.

Hong Kong's tram has been in operation for more than 100 years, but still remains well-used, carrying an average of 240,000 passengers a day.

Andrew Cheng, Hong Kong lawmaker and deputy chairman of the legislature's transport panel, said too much focus on tourism could jeopardise the tram's role as the cheapest and most convenient means of transportation.

"I do not object to the idea of turning it into a tourist attraction," he told AFP.

"But Veolia must make sure that the interest of overseas tourists will not overtake those of local passengers," he said, adding there should not be any substantial change to ticket prices, currently just two Hong Kong dollars (26 US cents).

Cheng said foreign companies did not always have a strong record of running Hong Kong's transport systems, citing Skyrail, the Australian company which operated cable cars taking people to a giant, mountain-top statue of Buddha.

MTR corporation, the local owner of the cable cars, sacked Skyrail after an unoccupied cabin plunged to the ground in 2007.

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Replica trams for harbourfront
Proposed tramway loop on Central reclamation would use historic cars
8 April 2009
South China Morning Post

Hongkong Tramways' new operator, the France-based transport giant Veolia, will be responsible for steering a proposed development of a new harbourfront loop on the reclaimed area between Central and Wan Chai.

The tram operator is considering reproducing trams from different eras to run on the proposed route from the Star Ferry pier in Central to the Convention and Exhibition Centre in Wan Chai to attract tourists and local passengers.

"[The trams] will look like living museums," Wharf Transport Investment director Frankie Yick Chi-ming, said. An initial study by the company indicated the idea was feasible.

"The government said earlier that it was looking forward to an environment-friendly traffic system operating in Central upon the completion of the reclamation work in the area," Mr Yick said. "We will submit our formal proposal after we finish a more thorough and detailed study."

The replicas would showcase different designs that had ridden the rails since the first single-deck trams were introduced in 1904.

Open-top double-deck cars were introduced in 1912 and were replaced by fully-enclosed models in 1925.

The tramway operator started to build its own trams in the 1950s and adopted single-deck trailer that was attached to the back of an ordinary passenger tram. The latest "millennium" model, designed and made locally, was launched in 2000.

Hongkong Tramways operates a fleet of 163 trams carrying about 230,000 passengers a day on six routes between Kennedy Town and Shau Kei Wan on Hong Kong Island.

Engineering sector lawmaker Raymond Ho Chung-tai welcomed the proposal, but stressed that the current tram system should stay.

"It doesn't matter if the tramway along the promenade is run by a new monorail system or in the old street-tramcar style - it isn't a bad idea to introduce something new - but our current tramway must stay."

The tram service barely breaks even on the HK$2 fare it has charged for 11 years, but Mr Yick said the company had been boosted by a significant rise in advertising revenue in 2007 and last year. In each of those years, the company took about HK$150 million in fares and HK$50 million in advertising.

Mr Yick said the number of passengers increased by 4 per cent from last October to March this year after service frequency was boosted.

Commenting on the investment by Veolia in the tramway, announced yesterday, veteran railway engineer Greg Wong Chak-yan said it was not likely that the French operator could impose many changes on the existing system.

"Unlike the Australian company that had to build Ngong Ping 360's cable car system from scratch, [Veolia] is taking over the operation of a mature system where everything is established; I don't see much chance of a flaw," Mr Wong, principal of Greg Wong and Associates, said.

Australia-based company Skyrail's operating contract for the Lantau tourist attraction was terminated a year after it started after an empty gondola dropped off the cable two years ago, and problems in the company's management and stock upkeep were revealed.

The Tramway Workers Union said it hoped the new operator would provide training to the 700 tram staff if it introduced any new systems.

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Tram drivers plan to press new bosses to install air conditioning
10 April 2009
South China Morning Post

Hongkong Tramways workers plan to seek a present from their new French bosses - air conditioning for double-decker cars.

Cooling for the cramped cars, in which temperatures can reach 37 degrees Celsius, has been tried before but failed. Three air-conditioned trams put into service were withdrawn after frequent breakdowns.

But Tramway Workers' Union chairman Lam Po-shing said the union would raise the issue again with Veolia, the French multinational that took over the trams' operations on Tuesday. "I think many of the passengers would also welcome the idea," Mr Lam said. "We hope [the new operator] will look for ways to improve our work environment."

Tram drivers have complained for years of their hot cabins during summer and it was not until last year that Wharf (Holdings) - from which Veolia bought a 50 per cent stake - agreed to fit fans for the drivers. Speaking after a union meeting yesterday, Mr Lam said members would ask to meet the new management team after Easter to voice their demands.

But transport enthusiast Dennis Law Chung-yan said their wishes may not be easily satisfied. "[Veolia] will not only have to resolve technical difficulties, which might involve replacing the entire power system, but they also have to consider fares - how much can they raise fares to cover the costs?" Mr Law, of the Universal Transport Fans Association, said.

The trams charge just HK$2 to ride all the way from Western to Shau Kei Wan, a trip for which air-conditioned buses charge HK$3.40.

"If the tramway seeks a fare rise, it can't be higher than HK$3.40 because otherwise they will lose passengers to the bus, which is much faster," Mr Law said. "So we are only talking about a margin of around HK$1 per trip."

The new managing director of Hongkong Tramways, Bruno Charrade, said on Tuesday Veolia would seek to improve the company's management as well as the safety, efficiency and quality of tram services.

Mr Charrade said there were no plans for fare increases, redundancies or adjustments to pay and pensions. Mr Lam said the union would ask Veolia to narrow the salary gap between new and old employees.

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First stop on a much bigger journey
8 April 2009
South China Morning Post

France-based transport giant Veolia is taking the Hong Kong tram project as its stepping stone to the mainland.

"Hong Kong is [a] reference for China," said Bruno Charrade, the new managing director of Hongkong Tramways and head of Veolia Transport China's operations. "That's strategically why we chose to start in Hong Kong."

Mr Charrade said there was a trend worldwide to revert to using trams - a more environmentally friendly mode of transport - and the mainland would need trams in future, although it was fast developing metro systems.

Veolia Transport won its first contract in Nanjing in December, taking over operations of bus networks in six cities in Jiangsu and Anhui provinces. The joint venture company runs about 2,900 vehicles and has a workforce of 6,700. It is expected to serve 375 million passengers a year.

The transport company is a division of Veolia Environment, which also has businesses in water, waste and energy management and is listed in Paris and New York.

The group has had a presence in Hong Kong for 15 years, with a company providing environmental services on waste treatment, landfill design and construction. It has about 660 employees.

Worldwide the transport division operates 17 tram systems in 10 countries including Germany, France, Ireland and Spain, and also operates other public transport systems of buses, light rails, subways, taxis, trains, coaches and ferries. Railway businesses, for example, are found in Melbourne, Los Angeles, Seoul, Boston and Mumbai.

In Stockholm, it lost the subway contract to Hong Kong's MTR Corporation in January after operating there for 10 years.

The company was also involved in a politically controversial tramway project in Jerusalem, which a number of human rights watchdogs including Amnesty International claimed incorporated in the route illegal Israeli settlements on occupied Palestinian territory.

Mr Charrade said his company was not responsible for designing the Jerusalem route but would only operate it to serve everyone.