Hong Kong Buses & Trams 2018
Hong Kong & Lantau Island
independent transport videos welcome
you to the first of two DVDs featuring the buses and trams of Hong Kong. This programme covers Hong Kong Island and
the ever-developing island of Lantau situated to the west. Since our cameras last visit in 2015 much has
changed with both the buses and trams.
We begin on Hong Kong Island at the busy Central Ferry Pier bus
terminus. Here we see the many new buses
operating with the main bus operators, Citybus,
New World First Bus (both owned
by New World Services) and Kowloon Motor
Bus (KMB). Most are Alexander Dennis
Enviro400MMC and 500MMC ‘face-lift’ double-deckers as well as ADL200MMC
single-deckers and Chinese-built Youngman single-deckers. New Wrightbus-bodied Volvo B9TL
double-deckers are also seen with each operator. Since our last programmes of Hong Kong buses,
KMB has introduced a new all-over red
with silver trim livery with a new fleet name brand, all of which are featured
on this programme. Our filming continues
on Man Yiu Street, Harbour View Street, Central (Exchange Square) bus terminus,
Connaught Road and Des Voeux Road Central.
Look out for the Citybus Volvo
Olympians on their last few months in service on the 88R resident’s service to
Sha Tin, as all will be gone by March 2019.
We then move to the east and catch up with the bus
and tram scene at
Shau Kei Wan, starting with the bus terminus and then along the busy
Shau Kei
Wan Road. Here we see some of the NWFB Neoplan Centroliners,
which will
soon be at the end of their operational lives.
A ride on the top deck of tram 70 takes us back to Central, filming as
we travel along this busy route capturing the buses, trams and the busy
scene
associated with this part of Hong Kong.
Our next location is to the southwest of the island – Aberdeen.
Our cameras capture the action at the bus
terminus and on Aberdeen Praya Road, Chengtu Road and Main Road.
At the south of the island is Stanley. Famous for its market we
see buses from Citybus and NWFB in action on Stanley Village Road and
at the bus
terminus. Sai Wan Ho (Grand Promenade) bus terminus is our
next
location. Here we see 3355 (KS 5587) one
of the last low-height Dennis Tridents with Duple Metsec bodywork in
service
with NWFB, these strong powerful
buses were used on services to The Peak and over the hills to
Stanley. It obviously liked being filmed as it
followed our cameras the following day to The Peak! We now travel
on one of NWFB’s latest ADL Enviro500MMC 12.8 mtr. double-deckers to
North
Point. From North Point we film at Des
Voeux Road Central by Western Market and see tram 88, which is the
‘Pilot
Cooler Tram’ – the first air-conditioned tram.
A short ride on the ‘Rickshaw’ open-top sightseeing bus brings us back
to Central Ferry Pier to join NWFB,
3802 (UM 8146), an ADL 400MMC ‘face-lift’ 10.4 metre double–decker for
a packed
ride to see the views from The Peak concluding our visit to Hong Kong
Island.
The
final part of this programme sees us on
Lantau island at the Sunny Bay Station bus terminus. Here we see
the buses from the Discovery Bay fleet in their
eye-catching purple and white livery. Brand
new MAN double and single-deck buses are filmed alongside new Citybus
ADL Enviro 500MMC double-deckers
that are on route to the ‘HZMB Hong Kong Port’ – which is the passenger
clearing centre for the new bridge and tunnel to Macau. The bus
terminus at HZMB is our penultimate
filming location on this programme. Here
we see the buses from the New Lantao Bus
Company (1973) Ltd. that included brand new ADL Enviro 400MMC and new
MAN
Gemilang double-deckers in their smart green and white livery. The
Citybus ‘Cityflyer’ services are now
diverted through this interchange giving plenty of variety for bus
enthusiasts! We conclude this programme
with a visit to the bus terminus at Hong Kong’s International
Airport. We arrive on AD03 (VP 9994), a New Lantao Bus Company
ADL Enviro
400MMC. Here we see many Long Win Bus Co. (LWB) buses in
service. LWB
is part of KMB and has recently
introduced an eye-catching orange, dark grey and white livery with a
stylised LWB logo. Their current fleet is made up almost
entirely of Enviro500 double deckers in all three body
variations. With plenty of action to enjoy, this is a
fitting end to this programme. We look
forward to seeing you on our next DVD covering Kowloon and the New
Territories.