Transportation in Hong Kong

Most mass and local transit takes advantage of the Octopus card for fare collection. The city is accessible by an efficient MTR subway system, buses, light buses, electric tram and taxi cabs.

Escalators and moving sidewalks

Hong Kong Island is dominated by steep, hilly terrain, which makes it the home of some rather unusual methods of transport up and down the slopes. In the Central and Western district there is an extensive system of escalators and moving sidewalks. The Midlevels Escalator is the longest outdoor covered escalator system in the world, operating downhill in the morning for commuters going to work, and working uphill the rest of the time.

The whole system is 800 meters long, the vertical climb is 135 meters. Total travel time is 20 minutes, but most people walk while the system moves to shorten the travel time. Due to its vertical climb, the same distance is equivalent to several miles of zigzagging roads if travelled by car. It consists of 20 escalators and 3 moving sidewalks. Daily traffic exceeds 35000 people. It has been operating since 1993. It cost HK$ 240 million (around US $30 million) to build.

Railways

• Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation (KCRC) - 2 lines plus light rail
  • East Rail: total 34 km, standard gauge (1.435-m gauge), all electrified. 13 stations connecting Lo Wu to Hung Hom.
  • West Rail: total 30.5 km, 9 stations connecting Tuen Mun to Nam Cheong.
  • Light Rail Transit: Light railway system totalling 36.15 km. 68 stations serving the northwest New Territories.
  • Several extensions planned and under construction, including Ma On Shan Rail, Lok Ma Chau Spur line, Tsim Sha Tsui Extension, Kowloon Southern Link, and Sha Tin to Central Link.
• Mass Transit Railway Corporation (MTR) - 6 lines, 50 stations
  • Kwun Tong Line: between Yau Ma Tei and Tiu Keng Leng
  • Tsuen Wan Line: between Tsuen Wan and Central
  • Island Line: between Sheung Wan and Chai Wan - on Hong Kong Island
  • Tseung Kwan O Line: between Po Lam and North Point
  • Tung Chung Line: between Tung Chung and Hong Kong station (Central)
  • Airport Express: between the Airport and Hong Kong station (Central)
• Hong Kong Tramways - double-decker trams, operating in northern Hong Kong Island from Kennedy Town to Shaukeiwan.
• Peak Tram - a cable car on rails with 5 stations, connecting Central and the Victoria Peak.

Highways

Bridges and tunnels

There are 12 vehicular tunnels in Hong Kong. They include 3 cross-harbor tunnels and 9 road tunnels. The cross-harbor tunnels are: Cross-Harbour Tunnel (opened 1972), Eastern Harbour Crossing (1989), Western Harbour Crossing (1997). They connect Hong Kong Island and the Kowloon Peninsula across Victoria Harbour.

Bridges include:

• Tsing Ma Bridge
• Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge (in project)

Buses

Five companies operate franchised public bus services in Hong Kong:

• Citybus Limited
• New World First Bus Services Limited
• Kowloon Motor Bus Company (1933) Limited (KMB)
• Long Win Bus Company Limited
• New Lantao Bus Company (1973) Limited

There are also a variety of non-franchised public buses services, including feeder bus services to railway stations operated by the railway companies, and residents' services for residential estates (particularly those in the New Territories).

Mini buses

Many minibuses (red roof) and maxicabs (green roof) typically serve areas less accessible by buses.

Mini buses only hold 16 passengers without any standing space. They are slightly more expensive than buses but run much more frenquently and take a more direct route than buses.

Taxis

Taxis of different colours serve different areas:

• Red: Hong Kong Island and Kowloon ("urban area")
• Green: New Territories
• Blue: Lantau Island

As of 2003, there are 18,138 taxis in Hong Kong, of which 15,250 are urban taxis, 2,838 are NT taxis and 50 are Lantau taxis. Everyday they serve about 1.1 million, 207,900 and 1,400 people respectively.

Private cars

There are 517,000 vehicles with license in Hong Kong, including 64% private cars.

Seaports and harbors

Merchant marine:
total: 271 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 7,942,646 GRT/13,101,275 DWT
ships by type: barge carrier 1, bulk 157, cargo 28, chemical tanker 5, combination bulk 2, container 53, liquified gas 5, multi-functional large load carrier 2, petroleum tanker 14, short-sea passenger 1, vehicle carrier 3 (1999 est.)
note: a flag of convenience registry; includes ships from 13 countries among which are UK 16, South Africa 3, China 9, Japan 6, Bermuda 2, Germany 3, Canada 2, Cyprus 1, Belgium 1, and Norway 1 (1998 est.)

Ferries

There are many ferries connecting the islands to each other and to the mainland. A ferry service by hydrofoil between Hong Kong and Macau is available 24 hours a day, every day. Gamblers from Hong Kong often take a one-day excursion to that city.

The following companies operate ferries in Hong Kong:

• The Star Ferry:
  • Central to Tsim Sha Tsui
  • Wanchai to Tsim Sha Tsui
  • Central to Hung Hom
  • Wan Chai to Hung Hom
• The First Ferry:
  • Central to Cheung Chau / Mui Wo (Lantau Island) / Peng Chau
  • Tsim Sha Tsui - Mui Wo - Cheung Chau (weekends only)
  • Peng Chau - Mui Wo - Chi Ma Wan (Lantau) - Cheung Chau
  • North Point to Hung Hom / Kowloon City
• Hong Kong & Kowloon Ferry:
  • Lamma Island to Central / Aberdeen / Pak Kok Tsuen
• HKR International Limited:
  • Discovery Bay / Central
  • Discovery Bay / Mui Wo
  • Central / Tsim Sha Tsui (East)

The following companies operate ferries to locations outside of Hong Kong:

• Chu Kong Passenger Transport (CKS) connects Hong Kong to cities in Guangdong province, China, including Zhuhai (Jiuzhou), Zhongshan, Lianhua Shan, Jiangmen, Gongyi, Sanbu, Gaoming, Heshan, Humen, Nanhai, Shunde, Doumen, Zhaoqing.

Airports

Airports - with paved runways:
total: 3
over 3,047 m: 2
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 (1999 est.)

Kai Tak International Airport was famous, but it was retired as an airport in favor of "Chek Lap Kok International Airport", which is another name for Hong Kong International Airport. The latter now serves as the region's main gateway.

Heliports

• One heliport is located in the Hong Kong Macau Ferry Terminal, by the Shun Tak Centre, in Sheung Wan, on Hong Kong Island
• Another is located in Admiralty, next to the CITIC Tower

East Asia Airlines operates a regular helicopter service between Macau Ferry Terminal and Shun Tak Centre. There are around 16 daily helicopter round-trips. Flights take approximately 20 minutes in the eight-seat aircraft.

There are also a number of helipads across the territory, including:

• Roof of the Peninsula Hotel - the only rooftop helipad in the territory, excluding the rooftop heliport of Shun Tak Centre
• Cheung Chau island, between Tung Wan Beach and Kwun Yam Beach
• Ping Chau

See also:

• Hong Kong
• Transportation in China
• List of buildings, sites and areas in Hong Kong

External links

• HK Transportation Dept.
• Public transport overview on HK Yellow Pages website
• Unofficial HK Public Transport website
• Schematic MTR map with stations
• KCRC heavy rail and light rail map with stations, and MTR lines (in grey, not in legend) without numbers or stations
• HK Highways Dept.
• Vehicular tunnels in Hong Kong
• Admiralty heliport

Referenced By