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New Lantau Bus Co (CT5251) Leyland Victory & (EL2826) Isuzu at Silvermine Bay in 1995. © Ian Lynas
CItybus At Wan Chai terminal © Alan G
ATR 278 DENNIS TRIDENT 12M DUPLEMETSEC BODY © FN9986
MTR Dennis Enviro500 ©unknown
MAN NL262/R
New Lantau Bus MAN NL263
A Toyota Coaster bus operated by the Hong Kong based Splendid Tours waits for its passengers to check out the Wishing Tree tourist spot. The attractive gate alongside leads to a Chinese temple, but that was not included in the tour. (Aug. 2002). ©s. shankar
A Dennis double decker bus and a double deck tram stop side by side at a red light in Hong Kong’s busy Causeway Bay district. (Aug. 2002).
©s. shankar
A;exander Dennis Enviro500 11.3m The smallest Enviro500 © S3N92
Kowloong Motor Bus AEC Regent V A187 in 1979. Star Ferry terminus © Ian Lynas
One of HK\’s fabulous double decker buses: a Volvo Alexander operated by KMB (Kowloon Motor Bus) pulls out of a stop in the busy Tsim Tsat Tsui Area in Feb. 2012. © S. Shankar
A Volvo double decker 3ASV 315 operated by the Kowloon Motor Bus (KMB) takes on passengers outside the (in)famous Chung King Mansions on Nathan Road in Hong Kong: Feb 2012. ©S. Shankar
A Dennis Dragon ADS 118 on route 28 bus of leaves the bus station at the Star Ferry Terminal in Tsim Tsa Tsui in Hong Kong, Feb. 2012. ©S. Shankar
A sparsely loaded Dennis Trident double decker bus runs past the IFC mall in Hong Kong, Feb. 2012. ©S. Shankar
No, this is not a private bus. This MAN is operated by the NLB or New Lantau Bus company and runs services from Tung Chung MTR station in HK to the Ngong Ping Big Buddha and the Tai O fishing village. This bus is due to run a shuttle service from the base of the Ngong Ping Big Buddha hill to Tai O fishing village. Most of NLB\’s buses are MANs with a sprinkling of Volvos and some Chinese built buses. ©S. Shankar
One of HK\’s Citybus operated double deckers in attractive yellow-blue-red takes on passengers at Causeway Bay for a pretty long haul to Sha Tin, a faraway suburb is known for its race course. Feb. 2012. ©S. Shankar
To take a break from stock images and mug shots of buses, here is a photo of the show window of a shop in HK\’s Western Market. This shop seemed to specialize in scale models of HK\’s public transport. I did not spot any other shop with this theme anywhere in HK. Photography is supposed to be forbidden here, but I took advantage of the shop owner\’s pre-occupation with receiving stocks at the far end of the store. There is a showcase with similar models at the Star Ferry terminal in Tsim Tsa Tsui, but those models were on display only, and not for sale. ©S. Shankar
Yes, HK has a handful of single decker buses too. Here a totally empty MAN single decker, operated by Citybus, runs past the IFC mall. Feb. 2012. ©S. Shankar
The long wheelbase of the single decker MAN can be appreciated from this photograph. Another member of its class crosses by in the opposite direction. Hong Kong, Feb. 2012. ©S. Shankar
An open top double decker of unknown make passes the Apple store in the the IFC mall in Hong Kong. This bus runs exclusively on the 15C route carrying passengers bound for the Victoria Peak. It starts from the Central bus station and heads to the Peak Tram base station. Feb. 2012.
©S. Shankar
Looking at the mighty double deckers and the odd single decker buses in HK, one often tends to overlook the equally ubiquitous 16 seater \’Public Light Buses\’ in that city. These are of two kinds: the green top, which run just like the regular buses with fixed stops, and the red top ones, also called \’maxi cabs\’, which can be stopped anywhere to get on and off. The green tops accept Octopus smart cards while the red tops do not. Here a green top Public Light Bus approaches the Star Ferry pier in Central. Hong Kong, Feb. 2012. ©S. Shankar
Another of the green top Public Light Buses on the run in HK, Feb. 2012. ©S. Shankar
One of the red top Public Light Buses at Causeway Bay awaits to depart for Sai Kun. Like the green tops, these red tops too are 16 seaters. However, although these too run regular routes, there are no fixed stops and can be asked to halt on request. Red topped Public Light Buses are also called maxi cabs and do not accept the Octopus smart cards. HK, Feb. 2012. ©S. Shankar
Another of the red topped Public Light Buses or Maxi cabs waits at the signal in the busy Tsim Tsa Tsui area in Hong Kong. Feb. 2012.
©S. Shankar
A cross-border bus of unknown make in the Tsim Tsa Tsui area of Hong Kong. These buses run from HK into mainland China. The drivers need to be particularly skilles as HK is right hand drive while mainland China is LHD. Note that the bus bears two number places: the white HK plate, as well as the black plate of mainland China. Both drivers were standing beside the buses smoking: the suddenly boarded and drove off without warning, just as I finished snapping this and the next picture. ©S. Shankar
The second bus is a Scania. This bus also bears two licence plates: white from HK and black from mainland China. The chap with the blue jacket alongside is the driver. Thanks to the Chinese New Year holidays, HK was simply overwhelmed with mainland tourists, so much so that at times I was fearing that the island would sink! HK, Feb. 2012. ©S. Shankar
Apart from First Bus, Citibus and KMB, another bus company Airbus connects the HK airport to areas in downtown with limited stop services. This Airbus route connects Tung Chung MTR station (base station for the Ngong Ping Big Buddha and Tai O fishing village) with the airport. Make of the bus is not known. It was pretty bright outside and rather dark inside, this mixed lighting rendered the face of the bus rather over exposed. Apologies for that. HK, Feb.2012. ©S. Shankar
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