MTR is the metro system of Hong Kong. First opened for service in
1979, the network has since expanded to encompass seven metro lines
and 53 stations, with further expansions planned. It is an affordable
mode of public transport in Hong Kong, with an average of 2.45 million
journeys recorded each day. The system has proven so popular because
of its efficiency and affordability. Construction of the MTR was
prompted by a government-commissioned study released in 1967. The
government of Hong Kong commissioned the study in the 1960s to find
solutions to the growing traffic problem caused by expansion of the
colony's economy. Construction started soon after release of the
study, and the first line was opened in 1979. In 2000, the
government-owned MTR Corporation was partially privatised and renamed
the MTR Corporation Limited. MTR Corporation has always been reliant
on developing properties next to railway stations for its profits
(although the rail lines are profitable themselves); many recently
built stations are incorporated into large housing estates or shopping
complexes.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MTR
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1509:
King Henry VIII of England married Catherine of Aragon.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catherine_of_Aragon)
1770:
Captain James Cook ran aground on the Great Barrier Reef.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Barrier_Reef)
1899:
Pope Leo XIII dedicated the entire human race to the Sacred Heart of
Jesus.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sacred_Heart)
1963:
The University of Alabama was desegregated as Governor George Wallace
stepped aside after a stand in the schoolhouse door.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Wallace)
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Wikiquote of the day:
"The good writing of any age has always been the product of someone's
neurosis, and we'd have a mighty dull literature if all the writers
that came along were a bunch of happy chuckleheads." -- William Styron
(
http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/William_Styron)