The Journal of Hong Kong TransportIssue 16 (June 2026)

In this issue

New open-top sightseeing bus route for KMB
New Light Rail platforms in Tin Shui Wai
Renewed Station Rail Voyage exhibition at Hung Hom Station
New passenger terminal for Hong Kong International Airport

New Heights in Sightseeing Buses: KMB Open-top Bus Route HK2 Enters Service

On 25 April 2026, KMB started operating a special open-top bus route, KMB TOUR HK HK2 (branded as Skywalk), to and from Ma Wan and back, and serves the famous Tsing Ma Bridge. The bus route offers beautiful night-time views of the Bridge as well as stopping at the popular tourist hotspots of Tsim Sha Tsui, attempting to attract tourists and visitors alike. At the same time, HK1 will also be branded as City Charm, reflecting the beauty of the Kowloon Peninsula.

Unlike its counterpart, HK1, however, HK2 starts and terminates at the less-popular Kowloon Station, which is farther from any tourist hotspots in Tsim Sha Tsui. Critics are also concerned about the usage of private roads in Ma Wan, as well as the long distance that the journey can make: HK2 has the longest mileage of any open-top sightseeing bus route ever provided, beating H4 at just below 25 kilometres in total route length.

Route history and details

The bus route originates in 2025 in a proposal document that splits out from the very successful open-top bus route HK1, which plans to have a new bus route to start and terminate at Kowloon Station, then serves Canton Road at Tsim Sha Tsui to pick up passengers before going on to the West Kowloon Highway towards Ma Wan, before returning to Tsim Sha Tsui. The proposed adult fare is HK$58.4^[a].

During the consultation period, residents in Ma Wan (including those of Park Island) were concerned about the buses that would create a nuisance for them. They were also reluctant to give way for KMB to enter the waterfront promenade, which was their private road. The terminus was also a concern: the location was too far away from the shopping mall, Elements, and it could hardly attract as many people as it could; service hours were planned to be at night, between 18:30 and 23:00, the same as the night tour hours of KMB route HK1 (which tours around Nathan Road at night). Others worried that the requirements of the bus route may lead to a fleet shortage: KMB had only 13 open-top buses, of which over half were deployed at night to serve the night tour service of HK1.

In December 2025, an open-top bus was wrapped in the HK2 livery. It was anticipated that the bus route would start operating during the new year period; however, the Transport Department has put the new bus route on hold. In early March 2026, the bus operator once thought of removing the livery from the open-top bus.

As announced by KMB on Earth Day, 22 April 2026, the bus route would start at Kowloon Station and, after picking up passengers at Tsim Sha Tsui, would traverse the West Kowloon Highway, Stonecutters Bridge, and onto Tsing Ma Bridge. To prevent disturbance to the residents in Ma Wan, there is no bus stops on the island. Instead, the open-top bus route exits Ma Wan at the roundabout behind the toll booth and returns to Yau Ma Tei via Tsing Yi North Coastal Highway.

Before landing at Yau Ma Tei via West Kowloon Bypass, the bus route traverses through Tung Chau Street and Tong Mi Road, where many old residential buildings stand along the way. After arriving at Yau Ma Tei, tourists can visit the famous old Yau Ma Tei Police Station and other tourist hotspots around the area, and the bus route continues its journey to West Kowloon Station and eventually returns to Kowloon Station bus terminus, where it terminates. In selected departures, they can even view the beautiful sunset on the bridge sections.

On the day of the announcement, KMB invited the media to try out the new bus route, and this was reported by many media, including RTHK, which stated that KMB had secured the chance of the coming Golden Week that it would attract a large flock of tourists during the week-long mainland Chinese holiday.

First day of service

Although the first services did not happen during the golden week, but in the first evening of service on 25 April, as many as 50 bus enthusiasts gathered at Kowloon Station bus terminus for the first journey an hour before the first service departed. The waiting bus enthusiasts even stuck the route information sheet and other materials of Citybus on the "head of queue" board, including that of the defunct bus route 43M, and HK City Sightseeing, the open-top bus operating arm of Citybus. The situation was so crazy that someone even accidentally toppled the metal fence that separated the waiting crowd and the moving path of the bus.

When the bus enthusiasts entered the bus once the doors opened, they cheered on the bus and filled the windscreen with smartphone cameras. One even stuck a leaflet of HK City Sightseeing on the front glass of the vehicle's upper deck, alongside a notice of Citybus that the bus does not serve the Hong Kong–Zhuhai–Macau Bridge Hong Kong Port. The first two buses left early by five minutes early with the upper deck of both buses full of passengers and bus enthusiasts.

The Golden Week

As the bus route started operation before the Golden Week, the bus route was one of the popular bus routes enjoyed by mainland tourists who fled to Hong Kong for scenic views. Now News interviewed some of the excited tourists during the bus ride, although there was no beautiful sunset, but windy weather. The tourists were satisfied with the journey over the bridges and highways; however, they also agreed that it would be more fun when the weather was good.

All open-top bus routes were fully filled during the first day of the Golden Week. Not only KMBs HK2 and its counterpart HK1, but also all HK City Sightseeing open-top bus routes operated by Citybus on the other side of the Victoria Harbour.

Open-top sightseeing extras

On the other hand, Citybus launched Hong Kong's first regular open-top sightseeing bus tours for pets and their owners on 19 April 2025, aiming to further foster a pet-inclusive society. The bus operator collaborated with PET-A-HOOD to provide such a service since February 2026 and was very successful, although this was far later than its competitor, KMB, which started operating pet bus services (operated by Sun Bus) in October 2024.

Citybus also caught the opportunity of the opening of the Fanling Bypass (Eastern Section), for which the bus operator organised an open-top bus tour, H79, on the opening day of the Bypass, on 3 May 2026. Citybus claimed that the passengers would become the first to visit the Bypass, as well as the only bus passengers traversing the Bypass within the short term. The booking fee for the tour is HK$168 per person.

Revitalising the Light Rail: Tin Wing Stop's New Platforms and Light Rail's New Mascot

As part of the development of YOHO WEST by Sun Hung Kai Properties, the Light Rail Tin Wing Stop in Tin Shui Wai was partially closed between 2017 and 2026, with a temporary platform 7 being built to serve the northbound services. On 24 April 2026, MTR officially put back the rebuilt platforms 1, 3, and 4 into service, with platforms 2 and 5 in service later. The temporary platform 7 and its relevant track were decommissioned on the same day and will be demolished.

The new platforms at Tin Wing Stop incorporated modern designs with new colours and bright lights, and were equipped with a wide range of amenities, from ticket machines to Octopus card readers. As of 24 April, Light Rail routes 705, 751 and 751P (in the northbound direction) serve the new platform 4 of Tin Wing, while platforms 1 and 3 were used as reserved platforms. The southbound direction, served by routes 706, 751, and 751P, still uses platform 6 outside of the platform slots.

New mascot of the Light Rail

The rail operator also announced a new mascot of the T' Chai family: Light Rail Cutie. Purple in colour and cute in style, it complemented the fifth member of the T' Chai family. For this occasion, MTR wrapped a light rail vehicle, 1138, with a special livery and created a wide range of special souvenirs of the mascot, including stickers, file holders, and other items.

Renewed exhibit at Hung Hom Station: "Station Rail Voyage: Explorer"

The Station Rail Voyage exhibition at Hung Hom Station, which opened in April 2024 to celebrate the 45^th anniversary of MTR, underwent a renewal from late March 2026 until early May to expand the exhibition and was therefore renamed Station Rail Voyage: Explorer. The renewed exhibition featured exhibits from the original, least popular MTR Gallery at Kowloon Station, combined with the exhibits from the original Station Rail Voyage. The new exhibit reopened on 15 May 2026, with new experiences such as the simulated driving cab experience (payment required) and a five-metre-long wall of tickets.

Exhibition highlights

Simulated driving cab experience

Visitors can try out and become a train driver in the simulated driving cab for five minutes and learn about how to drive a train, as well as rail fundamentals such as the signalling system. This experience also includes exclusive souvenirs that require visitors to purchase a special package, with the cheapest being HK$68 as of 13 May 2026.

Behind the scenes of rail operations

The renewal also adds multiple scenes of tunnel maintenance and Operations Control Centre (OCC), and visitors can learn about the workforce to keep railways running 24/7. Kids can try out staff uniforms that employees wear during their work, take photos with the scenes, and learn rail safety through play.

Five-metre-long ticket wall, and more

Based on the ticket wall in the original MTR Gallery, the giant ticket wall is now returned with more than 2,500 MTR tickets and Octopus cards being displayed, portraying the city's development with the evolution of ticket illustrations and designs. The exhibition also displays more artefacts that highlight MTR's milestones, such as old staff uniforms, while adding a children's play area with on-screen interactive games and model railway sets for kids to play.

The exhibition will only open on Fridays, weekends, and public holidays. Visitors can make an advanced booking, as long as thirty days prior, on https://stationrailvoyage.mtr.com.hk. The booking slots are limited and are allocated on a first-come, first-served basis.

New Passenger Terminal after 11 years: Airport Terminal 2 Departure Facilities Enters Service

The new Passenger Terminal 2 of the Hong Kong International Airport was opened on 27 May 2026. On the same day, Hong Kong Airlines moved into the new terminal. Other carriers, such as HK Express, Greater Bay Airlines, Hainan Airlines, and AirAsia, will then follow. The new terminal was completely redesigned with new elements compared to the old Terminal 2, and mainly serves budget passengers rather than the ones that aimed at service quality.

The first stage of this opening involved the new platforms of Airport Express' Airport Station being put into passenger service on 20 May 2026. The new platforms, numbered 3 and 4, were located next to Terminal 2 and served the departure and arrival passengers, respectively, and were built alongside the existing platforms 1 and 2. When the train arrives at the station, the train doors on both sides will open for both terminals. Besides the new arrangement for the trains, 29 bus routes will serve the new Terminal 2 alongside the existing Terminal 1.

Terminal 2 contains four check-in aisles^[b] with 160 counters^[c] for self-service baggage check-in. Like the old Terminal 2, travellers would still have to take the APM system to reach the boarding gates, located at Terminal 1 and other parts of the Airport.

This is a major milestone in the progress of the Airport expansion programme. On 23 September 2025, Terminal 2's coach terminal was opened for use, replacing the temporary coach station next to Car Park 1. All coach loading bays, as well as buses to Park Island and Discovery Bay, have been switched to the new coach terminal since that day.

The airside facilities, including the new concourse and boarding gates, were expected to open in 2027. Once opened, Terminal 2 will run completely independently of Terminal 1's facilities and also mark the conclusion of the Airport expansion programme.

Gallery

Terminal 2 is currently served by all airport bus routes^[d] alongside the existing Terminal 1
Interior of the arrival hall of Terminal 2
Art installation at level 6
Departure gates at level 6
Another view of departure gates at level 6
Aisle Q for Hong Kong Airlines at level 6
Shops at level 6
Restaurants at level 6
Coach terminal at Level 3
Airport Station platform 4

Other highlights for April—May 2026

On 27 April 2026, the last Scania K310UD (ASU) of KMB retired from regular passenger service. The vehicle, ASU18 (plate number PC3996), ran its final service at 18:15 from Kwai Fong Station to Lei Muk Shue as bus route 36M on that day. With the retirement of ASUs from KMB, no more franchised passenger service would be provided by the bus type; Sun Bus would still operate two in a regular pet bus service; however, they were also retired in May 2026.
A group of students at the Hang Seng University of Hong Kong (HSU) recently collaborated with a bus preservation group to restore a Leyland Victory Mark II of KMB (fleet designation G36) to the status of when it entered service. The bus was displayed at the HSU campus between 29 April and 2 May 2026, with a guided tour held during the bus exhibition, which was fully booked.
Keung To's fan club offered free rides for all passengers on 30 April 2026 on the Tramways, celebrating his 27th birthday.
Citybus's routes E11S and E22S were rerouted to the North Lantau Highway directly after serving western Tung Chung on 11 May 2026. From the same day, bus routes E18 and E28 started operating as a replacement for both E11S and E22S services in northern Tung Chung.
At about 6:20 am on 12 May 2026, A lorry trespassed the right-turning red traffic light and hit a KMB electric bus^[e] with the latter running the first service of bus route 600 on that day at Po Lam Road. The lorry flipped onto its side, the front of the bus was seriously damaged, and ten people (including the drivers of both vehicles and eight passengers on the bus) were injured. This caused a total catastrophe in the Po Tat area, with many commuters arriving late to work or school. The bus involved was less than a month old when the accident happened.
The government announced the waiver of tolls for all commercial vehicles^[f] in Hong Kong for two months on 13 May 2026. The toll would be waived by 50 per cent between 17 May and 16 July for all commercial vehicles using all government tolled tunnels and the Tsing Sha Control Area^[g]. Taxi passengers would still have to pay for the full toll despite the waiver that applies to taxis.
MTR announced on 15 May 2026 that, with the Tsuen Wan Line running smoothly and with high flexibility of the new signalling system, train service between Tai Wo Hau and Tsuen Wan stations can be provided during Typhoon Signals 9 and 10, alongside all other underground sections of all rail lines^[h]. MTR stated they had fully prepared for the typhoon and storm season with extra manpower and practices that ensure the safety of all customers and employees during inclement weather.
On 17 May 2026, a bus enthusiast was hit by a car outside Cheung Sha Wan Road, Sham Shui Po, during photo-taking with a group of people regarding a special liveried bus. The Journal sincerely expresses wishes that the victim can recover from his injuries and urges all bus enthusiasts to put safety in the first place while taking pictures of buses from special angles.

Notes

The fare was the actual adult fare of HK2, as of 25 April 2026
aisles R, S, T, and U
the old Terminal 2 has three aisles, N, P, and Q, providing 120 check-in counters in total
with the prefix "A"
an Alexander Dennis Enviro500EV with plate number VE2410, and fleet designation AED5
including goods vehicles, buses, light buses, and taxis
tolled for using the Eagle's Nest Tunnel and Sha Tin Heights Tunnel
The Disneyland Resort Line, Airport Express, Light Rail, and MTR Bus will be suspended during Typhoon Signals 9 and 10

Search

Tsing Ma Bridge's open-top bus route, Airport's new passenger terminal - Issue 16 (June 2026)