HONG KONG 2005

Rail, bus, ferry and other public transport services offer Hong Kong commuters a good choice of different transport modes at reasonable fares and different levels of comfort, speed and convenience.

Rail travel accounts for about 34 per cent of the total daily public transport volume. The railways in Hong Kong are built and operated by two railway corporations, the KCRC and MTRCL. The KCRC is wholly owned by the Government. The MTRCL was formerly wholly owned by the Government but was privatised in 2000 to become a listed company with the Government remaining as a major shareholder. Both corporations operate on prudent commercial principles providing efficient, reliable and safe passenger rail services to the public.

The Kowloon-Canton Railway was commissioned in 1910 and was formerly operated by the Government until the KCRC's establishment in 1982. The KCRC now runs East Rail (including Ma On Shan Rail), West Rail and Light Rail and provides feeder bus services and inter-city rail services.

East Rail, which was extended from Hung Hom to East Tsim Sha Tsui where a new southern terminal opened on October 24, 2004, has 14 stations along the 35-kilometre route from East Tsim Sha Tsui to Lo Wu at the boundary and the railway carries an average of about 900 000 domestic and cross-boundary passengers daily.

Ma On Shan Rail, which is part of the East Rail Extensions project, opened in December 2004 to serve the Ma On Shan and Sha Tin areas. There are nine stations along the 11.4-kilometre route which carries about 110 000 passengers daily.

West Rail runs from West Kowloon to Yuen Long and Tuen Mun. It started operation in December 2003. There are nine stations along the 30.5-kilometre route and the railway carries an average of more than 190 000 passengers daily.

Light Rail, which started operation in 1988, provides local public transport in the northwestern New Territories. Light Rail carries nearly 380 000 passengers daily. There are 68 Light Rail stops with a network of 36.15 kilometres in length. Passengers can interchange with West Rail at four Light Rail stops.

To allow rail passengers to enjoy better feeder service, the KCRC also runs a total of 21 bus routes providing services to East Rail, West Rail and Light Rail passengers.

The KCRC also provides inter-city through train services from Hong Kong to cities in Guangdong as well as to Shanghai and Beijing. Apart from passenger services, the KCRC provides rail freight services to the Mainland.

The former Mass Transit Railway Corporation was established by statute in 1975 to operate the MTR. In February 2000, the Legislative Council passed legislation to privatise a portion of the Government's shares in the company. The MTRCL was listed on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong in October that year. The first passenger train service on the Kwun Tong Line of the MTR began in 1979. The MTR was subsequently expanded to include Tsuen Wan Line (1982); Island Line (1985); Eastern Harbour Crossing rail tunnel, which connects the Kwun Tong Line to Quarry Bay (1989); Tung Chung Line (1998); Tseung Kwan O Line (2002) and Disneyland Resort Line (2005). The MTR carries a weekday average of 2.45 million passengers. The company also operates the Airport Express Line (1998), a dedicated rail link between the airport and the city centre. The Airport Express Line, extended to a new station at the AsiaWorld-Expo in December, carries a daily average of 24 000 passengers. The railway network currently operated by MTRCL is 91.5 kilometres in length.

Electric trams have been operating on Hong Kong Island since 1904. The Hong Kong Tramways Limited operates six routes on 13 kilometres of double track along the northern shore of Hong Kong Island between Kennedy Town and Shau Kei Wan, and about three kilometers of single track around Happy Valley.

The company's 164 trams, including two open-balcony trams for tourists and private hire and one special maintenance tram, make up the world's largest fleet of double-deck trams in operation. The tramway has a daily average of 231 000 passenger trips. Fares are $2 for adults and $1 for children aged under 12 and senior citizens aged 65 or above.

Hong Kong's other tramway is a cable-hauled funicular railway operated by the Peak Tramways Company Limited from Central (Garden Road) to the Peak. The 1.4-kilometre tramway began operation in 1888 and was modernised in 1989. The Peak Tram has an average of 11 000 passenger trips a day, mostly consisting of tourists and local sightseers. One-way fares for adults, children aged under 12 and senior citizens aged 65 or above are $20, $6 and $7 respectively.

The other road-based passenger transport modes — mainly franchised buses, public light buses, taxis and residents' services — account for 64 per cent of all public transport journeys.

Franchised buses are the largest road-based carriers and account for about 35 per cent of the total daily public transport volume. Local bus services in Kowloon and the New Territories are largely provided by the Kowloon Motor Bus Company (1933) Limited (KMB). At year-end, the company operated 384 bus routes in Kowloon and the New Territories; 23 and 29 cross-harbour routes jointly with Citybus Limited (CTB) and New World First Bus Services Limited (NWFB) respectively; and 11 cross-harbour routes on its own.

The KMB fleet comprised 4 021 licensed vehicles at year-end; 3 642 were air-conditioned and 1 698 wheelchair-accessible. KMB recorded 1.01 billion passenger trips (a daily average of 2.77 million passenger trips) and covered 339 million kilometres during the year. Its fares ranged from $1.60 to $38 for regular routes. Children aged under 12 and elderly passengers were offered concessionary fares on all the company's routes.

Local bus services on Hong Kong Island are provided by NWFB and CTB. At year-end, NWFB was operating 54 bus routes on Hong Kong Island, eight in Kowloon and Tseung Kwan O and 33 cross-harbour routes, 29 of which were operated jointly with KMB. It had a licensed fleet of 694 buses, of which 693 were air-conditioned and 530 wheelchair-accessible.

NWFB recorded 177.5 million passenger trips (a daily average of 486 200 passenger trips) and covered 52.1 million kilometres during the year. Its fares ranged from $3 to $34.2 for the regular routes. Concessionary fares are offered on all routes to children aged under 12 and elderly passengers.

CTB operates two bus networks under two franchises. One of the franchises comprises 65 bus routes on Hong Kong Island and 31 cross-harbour routes, 23 of which are operated jointly with KMB. Another franchise comprises a network of 16 routes plying between the urban areas and North Lantau or the airport.

At year-end, CTB had a licensed fleet of 910 buses, all of which were air-conditioned, and 119 wheelchair-accessible. The company recorded 205.8 million passenger trips (a daily average of 561 900 passenger trips) and covered 82.3 million kilometres during the year. Its fares ranged from $2.50 to $45 for the regular routes. Concessionary fares were offered to children aged under 12, and elderly passengers on Hong Kong Island routes (except recreational routes) and on cross-harbour and Lantau Island/airport routes.

The Long Win Bus Company Limited provides bus services between the New Territories and Lantau Island/the airport. The company carried 24.3 million passenger trips (a daily average of 66 600 passenger trips) and operated 23.8 million kilometres during the year. At year-end, 146 buses were serving a total of 18 routes; all were air-conditioned and 139 wheelchair-accessible. Fares ranged from $3.50 to $28 for the regular routes. The company offered concessionary fares for children aged under 12 and elderly passengers on all routes.

The New Lantao Bus Company (1973) Limited mainly provides bus services on Lantau Island. The company recorded 13.4 million passenger trips (a daily average of 36 600 passenger trips) and covered 5.3 million kilometres during the year. It ran 23 routes with a licensed fleet of 86 vehicles. Its fares ranged from $3 to $40 for the regular routes. Children aged under 12 and elderly passengers were offered concessionary fares on all routes.

Bus-Bus Interchange schemes are being implemented to encourage more efficient use of bus resources and limited road space, and to allow more choice for passengers. Fare discounts are offered to passengers when interchanging among designated bus routes. At year-end, a total of 150 Bus-Bus Interchange schemes were in operation, involving about 400 routes.

Non-franchised bus services perform a supplementary role in the public transport system. They relieve heavy demand on regular public transport services primarily during the peak hours, fill the gaps which cannot be met by regular public transport services and provide tailor-made services to specific groups of passengers. They mainly serve tourists, groups of residents, employees and students. At year-end, there were 7 212 registered non-franchised buses of which 6 888 were in operation.

Based on the recommendations of the Transport Advisory Committee's review of the licensing and regulatory framework for non-franchised bus operation completed in July 2004, the Government has been implementing a package of measures to improve the regulation of non-franchised bus operation since April. The measures aim at coordinating the change in non-franchised bus services with demand; strengthening regulatory control over non-franchised bus operation; and enhancing effectiveness and efficiency of enforcement actions.

Hong Kong's minibuses are licensed to carry a maximum of 16 passengers. At year-end, there were 6 204 licensed minibuses. Of these, 4 347 were public light buses (PLBs), and 1 857 were private light buses. Private light buses are authorised to carry only group passengers and are not allowed to collect separate fares.

There are two types of PLBs — green and red minibuses. Green minibuses provide scheduled services with fixed routing, fares, vehicle allocation and timetables stipulated by the Transport Department. During the year, there were 2 745 green minibuses operating 352 routes which recorded a daily average of 1 304 550 passenger trips. Red minibuses are not required to operate on fixed routes or timetables and may set their own fares, but they are subject to certain restrictions on their operating areas. There were 1 605 red minibuses in operation and they recorded a daily average of 453 160 passengers trips during the year.

The Transport Department and the Quality Public Light Bus Service Steering Committee have launched a series of schemes to improve the quality of the PLB service. To enhance communication between passengers, the trade and the Government, the eighth and ninth issues of the PLB Newsletter were published in February and December. Two road safety workshops were held for the operators and PLB drivers in February and November to improve the trade's management skills and to remind the drivers about the importance of driving safely. The department also continued to assist the Vocational Training Council with the 'Advanced PLB Driver Training Course' of the Skill Upgrading Scheme.

In addition, it continued to promote and facilitate the provision of on-board facilities for passengers including the installation of seat belts and high-back seats. Two new conditions were introduced during the year to enhance passenger safety on PLBs: a mandatory requirement to install speed display devices came into effect on April 30 and a new condition of the Condition of the Operations of PLB Service to display the hotline telephone numbers of the licensee and Transport Complaint Unit became effective on October 31.

The Government introduced incentive schemes in August 2002 to encourage the early replacement of diesel light buses by vehicles operating on Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) or electricity. PLB owners who replace their diesel vehicles with those using LPG can apply for a one-off grant of $60,000 while those who replace their vehicles with those using electricity can apply for a one-off $80,000 grant. Owners of diesel private light buses who opt to switch to LPG will be exempted from the first registration tax (electricity-driven vehicles are already exempted from the tax). The deadline for applications was the end of 2005 for those that are less than 10 years old at the time of de-registration. At year-end, 2 390 LPG PLBs and 125 LPG private light buses were operating on the roads. One electricity-driven private light bus was in operation.

At year-end, there were 15 250 red urban taxis, 2 838 green New Territories taxis and 50 blue Lantau taxis in Hong Kong, and they carried about one million passengers per day.

To improve the operating environment for taxis, the Transport Department has extended the temporary arrangement, which was introduced in May 2003, to January 31, 2007 to allow all taxis to pick up and set down passengers in all peak hours and 7am-to-7pm restricted zones on roads with speed limits less than 70 kilometres per hour. At year-end, there were over 230 designated taxi pick-up/drop-off points and 46 taxi drop-off points. The department will continue to provide taxi pick-up/drop-off facilities at suitable locations.

The department and the Quality Taxi Services Steering Committee continued to implement schemes to improve the quality of taxi service, including updating the information on the light emitting diode display panels and providing additional taxi information plates at various taxi stands, plus publishing and distribution of 40 000 copies of Taxi Newsletters to taxi drivers free of charge, and distributing leaflets at the Airport, Hong Kong Disneyland and Lok Ma Chau Control Point to provide useful information on taxi services to taxi drivers, passengers and tourists.

Ferries provide essential transport links to outlying islands where no land transport alternatives are available, and an alternative transport service within the inner harbour and to other areas in Hong Kong.

At year-end, one ferry operator provided two cross-harbour franchised passenger ferry services and 11 ferry operators provided 27 licensed passenger ferry services to the outlying islands and across the harbour. These franchised/licensed services were supplemented by about 76 kaito services, which provided services to relatively remote parts of Hong Kong.

Ferries recorded a daily average of about 93 267 passenger trips within the harbour and about 60 376 passenger trips to/from the outlying islands.