Open-top buses in HK1, end of route 80M - Issue 12 (August 2025)

Released 8/05/2025

The Wikimedia Journal of Hong Kong Transport
Issue 12 (August 2025)

In this issue

HK1 is equipped with open-top buses
Last services of KMB route 80M
New bus routes for Anderson

Note: External links are included in this issue. The editor is not responsible for any content outside this Journal.
This Journal is not related to, and has no relationship with, the Wikimedia Foundation or its affiliates.

Editor's note

Hello, fellow readers, I'm HingWahStreet, the sole editor of this Journal.

Unfortunately, this journal has been on hiatus since early this year, as I have primarily focused on Wikimedia projects. In June 2025, I made the decision to permanently step away from all Wikimedia activities, citing privacy and technical concerns. Consequently, I will no longer respond on behalf of any Wikimedia account named HingWahStreet or similar, to prevent potential harassment from other users. Additionally, I participated in another private course, which left me little time to dedicate to this journal. Now that my commitments have eased, I am eager to refocus on public transportation—particularly buses and trains—and to document its history more thoroughly and accurately.

Currently, this site is attached to a nofollow tag, so this would prevent search engines from searching the Journal, since the site is still being developed. I plan to remove this restriction at some point in the future, allowing history to be easily accessed from anywhere at any time. All contents are written as accurately as possible; in the meantime, please refrain from contacting me, though I kindly acknowledge that any errors in the articles will be speedily corrected.

Starting from August 2025, this journal will provide your most interested Hong Kong transportation news, updated every one to two months, collected from various reliable sources. Should there be any corrections or any improvements regarding the Journal, please use the online form link below (at the bottom of this article).

So sit back, relax, and enjoy reading the Journal of Hong Kong Transport.

Rejuvenation of HK1: KMB's New Open-top Bus Services Kick Off

On Thursday, 31 July 2025, KMB held a ceremony at West Kowloon Cultural District to celebrate their newest service addition to their tourist bus route HK1, with the branding changed from Tour @Kowloon to KMB TOUR HK, and with ten specially converted open-top buses replacing the original fleet, plus a new night tour service that will enhance tourists' experience.

Background of this change

On 21 September 2024, KMB started operating a new tourist bus route, HK1, serving the tourist hotspots of Kowloon, including the famous Nathan Road and Wong Tai Sin Temple. A fleet of buses with premium seating was initially used, but neither the route nor the buses attracted passengers; the only draw was the bus terminus location at Star Ferry. Passenger numbers were very low from the start, with fewer than ten passengers per departure. KMB attempted to attract tourists with discount offers, including free rides with their tourist day pass, but these efforts failed.

With the successful experience provided by Citybus on their HK City Sightseeing services, KMB started to propose changing HK1 to open-top services by buying five electric double-decker open-top buses as an addition to the service, but this would never come to fruition. Instead, KMB converted ten Enviro500 MMCs to a partially open-top specification with no side windows on the upper deck for better views.

Details of the new service

As announced during the event, KMB doubled the fares of the original HK1 bus route from HK$20^[a] to HK$40 to compensate for the cost of making this service possible. Some of the welfare provided in their smartphone app, APP1933, was also discontinued, in favor of carrying tourists on the route. Still, the $2 concession scheme was not applicable for this route, alongside no employee discount was available. KMB also announced a premium version of their tourist day pass, sold at HK$98, and the original tourist day pass will no more valid to enjoy free rides on the route.

The bus route was swapped to open-top buses on Sunday, 3 August 2025, with a new night tour service added. The night service starts at 18:30 in the evening and ends at 22:00 at night, touring the West Kowloon Cultural District and Nathan Road to Mong Kok, before a return to Tsim Sha Tsui.

Ten open-top buses, decorated with KMB liveries from different eras, will serve tourists both day and night, offering a panoramic experience. These buses were partially open-top, with only the front rooftops remaining. A roof window was added to each bus to enhance this experience, though they lacked the sliding windows that their competitor, Citybus, offers. KMB also installed many drain pipes to prevent rainwater from flooding the buses, especially on the upper deck and stairway.

On its first day of operation, the service coincided with heavy rain, as the Hong Kong Observatory had issued the amber rainstorm warning. KMB kindly provided passengers with complimentary ponchos, which helped alleviate the difficulties of sightseeing in bad weather. Similarly, Big Bus Hong Kong offers ponchos to riders during inclement weather as a standard courtesy.

KMB has developed a dedicated digital web guide to help tourists plan their travels. All bus stop signs and buses are equipped with QR codes, making access to this guide quick and convenient.

As a nearly century-old bus operator, KMB aims to attract more tourists—particularly from Mainland China—who enjoy riding the popular open-top buses and taking in the vibrant city views. This not only enhances the travel experience for visitors but also helps the bus operator increase revenue for daily operations.

KMB censors opponents' services?

Just days after KMB's open-top services began, some users noticed that the HK City Sightseeing bus route information was removed from the APP1933 smartphone app. Searches now only display route HK1, with other routes such as H1, H1S, H2, H2K, H3, and H4 no longer visible. This move to hide certain routes not only limits tourists' choices but also appears to violate the open data policies established by the Hong Kong Government. What are your thoughts on this?

was HK$19 at the beginning of the service

End of an Era: Farewell to KMB Route 80M

KMB's route 80M made its final service on 1 August 2025. The service, originally a connection to Kowloon Tong Station Public Transport Interchange, saw a sharp decrease in passenger numbers after the opening of the MTR Tuen Ma Line and the competition between the bus route and the East Rail Line. To compensate for this, KMB will operate two special departures of bus route 81K via Tai Wai Station Public Transport Interchange during the morning peak hours.

On the final service day, many bus enthusiasts gathered at Sui Wo Court in Sha Tin and Kowloon Tong Station to pay tribute to the connection route that had served for 37 years. The last morning service, departing at 07:05 and 07:30 respectively from Sui Wo Court, saw many bus enthusiasts packing their cameras against the windscreen of the upper deck of the bus. When the bus arrived at Kowloon Tong Station, a crowd of bus enthusiasts circled around the front of the bus to take pictures and videos of it. Even after the bus that served the route had left the bus stop, some bus enthusiasts still waited at the stop for the final departure that would be made the same evening.

Final services

At 17:30, more than 100 bus enthusiasts and other onlookers gathered to witness the final service to Sui Wo Court. A total of five buses were deployed: one departed at 18:50, followed by four more starting at 19:20. At Sui Wo Court, the last three buses parked side by side at the bus pit, where many enthusiasts circled around once more to capture the final moments of the route.

What's special about this

The history of KMB bus route 80M dates back to 1979, when it was initially established as route 70M. The route primarily served passengers traveling to and from Shatin Central Bus Terminus. For Kowloon Tong Station Public Transport Interchange, the termination of this service means there are no longer any bus routes connecting to or from the interchange—only cross-boundary coaches and minibuses now use it as a terminus. The previous bus route to be canceled was 281M, which serves Sun Tin Wai Estate, as it terminates at Kowloon Tong Station as well, when it ends its service on 21 October 2024.

Additionally, route 80M was the last to utilize double-decker buses with 3+2 seating on the upper deck before its retirement in 2014. These buses frequently served Sui Wo Court and were characterized by their short body design and high-density seating arrangements.

Readers' Corner: My Dream of a Double-Decker on a "Big Mountain"

I was using the computer during a vacation when I had a dream:

Many years ago, on one deep night, there was a wildfire in a suburb in the New Territories that burned for many days and nights. One night, I decided to go to the "Big Mountain", the tallest mountain in Hong Kong, to breathe some fresh air.

As I was heading toward the "Big Mountain," a yellow double-decker bus suddenly appeared in front of me, soaring toward the "Big Mountain," perhaps for some fresh air. I was shocked to see it, since there was nothing like "a jumbo bus climbing the Big Mountain" that happened at that moment.

In a few hours, I climbed the "Big Mountain" to the checkpoint for a rest, but then I saw the same yellow bus climbing up from the other end of the "Big Mountain" again, seeking some fresh air...

That dream ends when the first rays of the sun shine on the ground. In the nights that followed, a secret voice told me that larger yellow buses appeared on the "Big Mountain". The dream continued until the wildfires were extinguished and remained deeply buried in my mind until today.

I think that the yellow buses in the dream can hardly be seen again on the "Big Mountain", but after an argument between the red and gold buses, they may reappear at the bottom of the "Big Mountain", in brave new Hong Kong. This is the time to share this dream with everyone.

More Services for Anderson: New KMB Bus Services to West Kowloon

On 18 August 2025, KMB started operating two new bus routes connecting Anderson in Kwun Tong with Sham Shui Po and Kowloon Station. The bus routes, 13 and 213E respectively, provide more choice for Anderson residents while supplementing the original two bus routes that have served since 30 March 2025, routes 19 and 600.

Route details

13

A new service connecting Anderson with Sham Shui Po and Tai Kok Tsui, this bus route will start from Yen Chow Street (Dragon Centre) of Sham Shui Po and serve Mong Kok, Kowloon City, Ngau Tau Kok, and Sau Mau Ping via Argyle Street, Kwun Tong Road, and Sau Mau Ping Road. The bus route will provide an alternative connection between Sau Mau Ping and West Kowloon, as well as between Kwun Tong and Anderson. The service initially operates on weekdays and no services will be provided during public holidays, with the full fare at HK$8.3. Initial services will depart from Anderson at 08:00 and 16:15, and from Sham Shui Po, 06:15 and 17:45.

However, some online users reflected in the HKiTalk forum that the routing of bus route 13 was not direct and did not serve the main passenger sources that would appear to coincide with some other bus routes, such as 2A, 2X, 214, and 42.

During the first service of the bus route from Sham Shui Po to Anderson, some bus enthusiasts shouted inside the bus compartment, which distracted the bus driver and caused him to broadcast the "please keep the bus quiet" message on the PA. Furthermore, after the bus arrived at Anderson, they packed their self-made destination displays in front of the bus, and stuck some irrelevant passenger notices (mainly about bus routes 80M and 61M) on the windscreen of the bus. These were found by the staff, and the bus enthusiasts were urged to remove them.

213E

This bus route primarily utilizes highways, including the Kwun Tong Bypass and the Kai Tak Tunnel, to connect Kwun Tong and Sau Mau Ping directly with Tsim Sha Tsui and Hung Hom. Before arriving at Kowloon Station, the route also served the West Kowloon Cultural District. The initial service departs 08:00 from Anderson and from Kowloon Station at 18:00, with the full fare at HK$8.3.

At the same time, cross-harbor bus route 600 saw a significant increase in demand from non-Anderson residents during the morning and evening peak hours. Therefore, on 11 August 2025, the bus route will extend its service hours to half-day to accommodate the demand, with headways of 20-30 minutes on weekdays (30 minutes on weekends and public holidays), and the last bus will depart at 22:00.

On the first day of service at Anderson, some 70 bus enthusiasts gathered at the terminus and waited for the first departures of both 13 and 213E. The staff reminded them not to stick their smartphones, which were used to film the journey, onto the handrails and not to stand or linger on the stairs.

Other highlights for July—August 2025

On 7 July 2025, the Star Ferry provided free travel for all passengers on the Central—Tsim Sha Tsui route, celebrating the 30th birthday of famous idol Anson Lo.

On 13 July 2025, concessionary fares were applied to adult Octopus card riders and others, HK$1 for MTR and the Light Rail.

KMB collaborated with the Hong Kong Institute of Construction (HKIC) to provide free rides on bus route 16 on 16 July 2025, the day that DSE results were released.

The Tramways were again free to ride on 25 July 2025, sponsored by the Japanese detergent firm Kao with their washing detergent brand Attack.

On 30 July 2025, Citybus started its collaboration with Ngong Ping 360 to operate an open-top bus service serving the Tung Chung cable car station, the airport, Hong Kong Disneyland, and other tourist hotspots around north Lantau Island.

Park Island Transport operated a new bus route, NR338S, starting on 4 August 2025, to replace part of the ferry services between Central and Ma Wan. At the same time, the ferry services were reduced to two-hour headways during non-peak hours.
The Yau Oi South bus terminus in Tuen Mun was closed starting on 18 August 2025 to facilitate construction works, with the bus services 61A and 61M moving southwards to the nearby Hoi Wing Road as the new terminus.
A double-decker bus (Enviro500 MMC) of route 51 loading passengers at Tai Mo Shan Country Park
KMB's bus route 51 was approved to operate double-decker buses starting on 24 August 2025. This upgrade significantly increased the route's capacity to accommodate the growing number of passengers traveling to and from Tai Mo Shan.

Epilogue

On the final service day of bus route 80M, I am delighted and fortunate to meet one of the bus enthusiasts, LN9267, at Kowloon Tong to join for a ride and chat all the way to Sui Wo Court. As an active contributor on HKiTalk, HKbus Fandom, and Wikimedia Commons, I further know that he carried a deep love for buses and public transport in Hong Kong, Macau, and Singapore. Surprisingly, he was the first person to find the news about such and post it on the forum. He also said that his most recent activity is to frequently go to the airport and capture some of the things ahead of the 100th anniversary of the former Kai Tak Airport, as well as explaining his very basic knowledge of capturing planes using his smartphone. I also shared some of my concerns about why I left Wikimedia projects, and he thanked me after learning that I was the editor behind all the edits for his uploads on Wikimedia Commons. Overall, the mood is friendly, and I believe I have established a friendship with...!

Bus routes (and bus model types), like friendship, are limited in duration. The termination of bus route 80M is a clear example: We should cherish this best part by respecting what will later be lost. As newer bus routes were established to provide faster and more direct services, older routes became victims of cancellation due to low ridership. We should remember how these services contributed to their history and how they shaped the city's development.

HingWahStreet
1 August 2025

Remarks: Most of the images featured inside the Journal were captured by LN9267. The editor would like to express appreciation for his high-quality photographs, which greatly contributed to making the Journal possible.