Hong Kong

Hong Kong — The trams and tramway of Hong Kong

Nick Morris

Sep 4, 2015 — 4 min read

Taking the tram in Hong Kong

September 2015

One of the great delights of Hong Kong is its streetcar or tramway system.

As with many of my trips, I had approached Hong Kong knowing little about the place. I shouldn't do it this way; I don't know why I do. But it seems to be something I do. I book a flight to somewhere, turn up, and then decide what to do. Usually, this has worked well for me as I go to new places with no preconceived ideas, and as a result, I have discovered some marvellous places. On the minus side, I bet I have missed out on a few great places.

With Hong Kong, I took my usual approach. When I arrived, I had no plans for what to see or where to go. It was a leap into the unknown. But, I got lucky in that I picked the Big Bus Tour, which showed me a great deal of the island, and I also got to explore large areas on foot.

One of the things I did "discover" was the Hong Kong streetcar and tramway, which due to my meticulous pre-trip research, I had no idea existed. But once I discovered it, I used it.

The tramway runs between Shau Kei Wan and Kennedy Town on Hong Kong Island, with a branch line going out to Happy Valley. The tramway system is over a hundred years old, and the lines run parallel to the northern coastline of Hong Kong island. The Tramway is a great way to explore as it runs through some major shopping areas on the island and is straightforward to hop on and off. Another plus to taking the tram is you get to meet the locals.

The tramway can also be a hazard when crossing the road, particularly if you come from a country that doesn't have trams in their city. And the way I discovered the tramway was to nearly get run over by a tram as I crossed the road.

I loved the trams. I thought it was a fantastic way to get around. And they also added some real character and vibrancy to the city.

You get on at the back and off at the front when using the trams. Don't do what I did, which was to get on at the front and off at the back. Doing this will get you some funny looks from the locals and what, I assume, was a remark about tourists not knowing what they are doing and holding everyone up. As far as I could see, the fare was fixed at 2.8 HKD (£0.25 GBP; $0.35 USD), but I may be wrong. You pay on the tram by depositing money into an automated coin counter. The trams only take coins, and they do not give change.

Below is a collection of photos I took of the trams of Hong Kong.

Photo by Author — The trams and tramway of Hong Kong

I particularly liked the bold, fresh colours of the trams. The tram cars were well-maintained and looked after. Yet, to me, they did look out of place. They looked and felt like something from the past that shouldn’t be in modern Hong Kong.

The tram cars are odd looking, though. They seemed too tall for their width. They reminded me of the Knight Bus in Harry Potter when it ‘breathes in’ to get between narrow gaps.