The Kowloon Urban Bus Route 20A is operated by Citybus. It runs between HSR West Kowloon Station[Remark 1] and Kai Tak Cruise Terminal, via Tsim Sha Tsui (Canton Road), Yau Ma Tei (Nathan Road), Mong Kok, Boundary Street (→)/Prince Edward Road West (←), Kowloon City, San Po Kong, Kai Ching Estate, Tak Long Estate and Hong Kong Children's Hospital.
Route 20A, which is branded as "Nathan Road Line", is a special departure of Route 20, and it now connects daily between Kai Tak and Yau Tsim Mong District after several routing amendments and service enhancements.
History[]
Commencing background[]
While the population of the Kai Tak Development Area (KTDA) has continued to grow in recent years and the private housing estates in the vicinity of Muk Tai Street are expected to be completed and occupied in 2021, there is a lack of public transport in the area for direct travelling to and from the Hong Kong West Kowloon Station of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link (XRL). The Transport Department (TD) and Citybus, through the "2020-21 Bus Route Planning Programme", propose to introduce a special departure from Kai Tak (Muk On Street) to HSR West Kowloon Station during the morning and evening peak hours from Mondays to Fridays, with route number 20A, which was similar to Route 20 for a large section of the route between Kai Tak and Waterloo Road, and then turn left to HSR West Kowloon Station, and detour the HSR West Kowloon Station Loading and Unloading Area, instead of serving Mong Kok West and Tai Kok Tsui, which are the areas that are served by the main route.
The proposed routing would detour via Muk Tai Street, which is not yet served by private housing estates on both sides of the street by the time the route comes into operation. At the same time, the departure time of the HSR West Kowloon Station was delayed from 17:30 to 18:10.
Route change history[]
- 20 July 2020: Route 20A entered service.[1][2]
- 9 January 2021: Payment by AlipayHK "EasyGo", Alipay and UnionPay "QuickPass" was accepted. Passengers can continue to enjoy inter-route interchange discounts, however, the new fare system is not included in the Public Transport Fare Subsidy Scheme and the $2 fare concession scheme for the elderly and eligible persons with disabilities.[3]
- 25 October 2021: The following changes were implemented:[4][5]
- Changed to circular operation between HSR West Kowloon Station and Kai Tak;
- Substantially rerouted via Canton Road, Kowloon Park Drive, Jordan Road, Nathan Road, Boundary Street (→) / Prince Edward Road West (←), omitting Waterloo Road, Argyle Street and Muk On Street, as well as HSR West Kowloon Station Boarding and Alighting Area for HSR West Kowloon Station direction;
- The section fare to West Kowloon Station was changed to take effect from "Wing Sing Lane" stop on Nathan Road, and the section fare to Kai Tak was cancelled;
- The service hours were extended to 06:15 - 10:00 and 16:00 - 20:00 on Mondays to Fridays;
- Departures from West Kowloon Station of XRL at 06:50 and 18:15 remained detouring via Muk On Street.
- 4 March 2022: Service was suspended due to the fifth wave of the novel coronavirus pneumonia outbreak until 21 April when limited service was resumed. [6][7]
- 15 August 2022: The stop at "Grand Plaza" on Nathan Road for Kai Tak direction was relocated to "Nelson Street" stop. [8]
- 19 September 2022: No longer observed "HSR West Kowloon Station Boarding and Alighting Area" stop on Wui Man Road for Kai Tak direction. [9]
- 28 August 2023: Changed to operate bidirectionally between HSR West Kowloon Station and Kai Tak Cruise Terminal with circular operation cancelled, and the service area was extended to Hong Kong Children's Hospital and Kai Tak Runway Area with extended service hours. Departures from HSR West Kowloon Station operate from 06:15 - 20:00 on Mondays to Fridays, and departures from Kai Tak Cruise Terminal operate from 07:25 - 20:35 on Mondays to Fridays.[10][11]
- 29 March 2023: Upgraded to a whole-day service with service hours extended: [12]
- Last bus time from Kai Tak Cruise Terminal and HSR West Kowloon Station were delayed to 22:00 and 22:45 from Mondays to Fridays respectively;
- Departures from Kai Tak Cruise Terminal on Saturdays, Sundays and Public Holidays changed to operate from 08:00 - 22:00, and departures from HSR West Kowloon Station from 09:00 - 23:00.
Service Hours and Headways[]
The latest update is on 8/2023, please refer to the link below for the official route information.
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- This route provides "Next Bus" Arrival Time Enquiry Service.
Fares[]
| Journey/boarding stop | Fares |
|---|---|
| Full fare | $7.0 |
| Section fares (to Kai Tak Cruise Terminal) | |
| From Tak Long Estate | $6.8 |
| Section fares (to HSR West Kowloon Station) | |
| From Wing Sing Lane | $5.8 |
| Fare Remarks |
|---|
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Bus-Bus Interchange Concessions[]
Passengers using the same Octopus card to interchange to the designated route after this route within a specific time, or transfer from the designated route to this route can enjoy an interchange concession. The details are as follows: (Half discount for children and senior citizens.) Template:Citybus Route 20A Interchange Concession Scheme
Bus deployments[]
This route is managed by Citybus Operations and Engineering Division (Kowloon and New Territories). 8 buses are used during AM periods and 10 for PM periods, with main models being Enviro500 MMC 12.8m (6426-6443, 6460-6499, 6700-6701) double-decker buses with wheelchair parking spaces[13] and Weisheit WSD6121BR1EV 12m (59100), occasionally with Volvo B8L 12m (8806-8829, 521XX).
Routing[]
To Kai Tak Cruise Terminal[]
| Routing | Roads observed |
| ① Regular |
The distance of this route is approx. 18.9km, and the journey time is approximately 70mins. (The average speed is 16.2km/h.) Hoi Wang Road, Wui Man Road, Wui Cheung Road, Canton Road, Salisbury Road, Kowloon Park Drive, flyover, Canton Road, Jordan Road, Nathan Road, Lai Chi Kok Road, Prince Edward Road West, Tai Nan Street, Cedar Street, Yu Chau Street, Boundary Street, Prince Edward Road West, Prince Edward Road East, Sze Mei Street, Luk Hop Street, Tsat Po Street, Kai San Road, Concorde Road, roundabout, Concorde Road, Shing Kai Road, Muk Hung Street, Muk Chui Street, Shing Kai Road, Shing Fung Road, Kai Tak Bridge Road, Shing Cheong Road, Cheung Yip Street, roundabout, Cheung Yip Street, Shing Cheong Road, Kai Tak Bridge Road, Shing Fung Road and Kai Tak Cruise Terminal access |
|---|---|
| ② * Via Muk On Street |
The distance of this route is approx. 19.8km, and the journey time is approximately 75mins. (The average speed is 15.8km/h.) ..., Muk Chui Street, Shing Kai Road, Muk On Street, roundabout, Muk On Street, Shing Kai Road, Shing Fung Road, Kai Tak Bridge Road, ... |
| Citybus Route 20A (HSR West Kowloon Station → Kai Tak Cruise Terminal) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Area | Road | Bus Stop Name | Remarks |
| 1 | West Kowloon Reclamation Area | HSR West Kowloon Station  |
||
| 2 | Tsim Sha Tsui | Canton Road | Austin Road | near Xiqu Centre |
| 3 | Silvercord | |||
| 4 | Peking Road | near Harbour City, 1881, Star Ferry | ||
| 5 | Kowloon Park Drive | Kowloon Park Drive  |
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| 6 | Jordan | Canton Road | Austin Station |
|
| 7 | Jordan Road | Shanghai Street | near Temple Street | |
| 8 | Nathan Road | Nanking Street |
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| 9 | Yau Ma Tei | Kowloon Central Post Office | ||
| 10 | Man Ming Lane |
|||
| 11 | Mong Kok | Changsha Street | ||
| 12 | Grand Plaza |
near Langham Place, Nelson Street | ||
| 13 | Fife Street | near Argyle Centre | ||
| 14 | Lai Chi Kok Road | Kei Wing Primary School | near Pioneer Centre | |
| 15 | Sham Shui Po | Boundary Street | Poplar Street | |
| 16 | Police Sports and Recreation Club | |||
| 17 | Yau Yat Chuen | Fa Hui Park | ||
| 18 | Kowloon Tong | Caritas Domitory Prince Edward | ||
| 19 | Beverly Villas | |||
| 20 | St. Teresa's Hospital | |||
| 21 | Kowloon City | Prince Edward Road West | Hau Wong Road |
|
| 22 | Prince Edward Road East | Regal Oriental Hotel | ||
| 23 | San Po Kong | The Latitude | near Trade and Industry Tower | |
| 24 | King Tai Street | |||
| Kai San Roads | ||||
| 25 | Kai Tak | Concorde Road | Trade and Industry Tower |
|
| 26 | East Kowloon Regional Police Headquarters | |||
| 27 | Muk Hung Street | Kai Tak (Kai Ching Estate) | ||
| 28 | Shing Kai Road | Tak Long Estate | Section fare begins here near Richland Gardens | |
| 29 | Tak Long Estate Carpark | |||
| * | Kai Tak Grid Neighbourhood | Muk On Street | Victoria Skye |
Applicable to special trips using Routing ② |
| 30 | Kai Tak | Shing Kai Road | EMSD Headquarters | |
| 31 | Shing Cheong Road | Hong Kong Children's Hospital | ||
| 32 | Kai Tak Runway Area | Shing Fung Road | Shing Fung Road | near One Victoria |
| 33 | Kai Tak Cruise Terminal | |||
To HSR West Kowloon Station[]
| Routing | Roads observed |
| ① Regular |
The distance of this route is approx. 15.8km, and the journey time is approximately 60mins. (The average speed is 15.8km/h.) Kai Tak Cruise Terminal access, Shing Fung Road, Kai Tak Bridge Road, Shing Cheong Road, Cheung Yip Street, roundabout, Cheung Yip Street, Shing Cheong Road, Kai Tak Bridge Road, Shing Fung Road, Shing Kai Road, Concorde Road, Prince Edward Road East, Prince Edward Road West, Ma Tau Chung Road, Prince Edward Road West, Nathan Road, Jordan Road, Canton Road, Salisbury Road, Kowloon Park Drive, flyover, Canton Road, Jordan Road and Hoi Wang Road |
|---|---|
| ② * Via Muk On Street |
The distance of this route is approx. 16.7km, and the journey time is approximately 65mins. (The average speed is 15.4km/h.) ...... Shing Fung Road, Shing Kai Road, Muk On Street, roundabout, Muk On Street, Shing Kai Road, Concorde Road, ...... |
| Citybus Route 20A (Kai Tak Cruise Terminal → HSR West Kowloon Station) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Area | Road | Bus Stop Name | Remarks |
| 1 | Kai Tak Runway Area | Kai Tak Cruise Terminal | ||
| 2 | Shing Fung Road | Shing King Street | ||
| 3 | Shing Fung Road | |||
| 4 | Kai Tak | Shing Cheong Road | Hong Kong Children's Hospital | |
| 5 | Kai Tak Grid Neighbourhood | Shing Kai Road | Muk Tai Street | |
| 6 | EMSD Headquarters | |||
| * | Kai Tak Grid Neighbourhood | Muk On Street | Victoria Skye |
Applicable to special trips using Routing ② |
| 7 | Kai Tak | Shing Kai Road | Tak Long Estate Carpark | |
| 8 | Tak Long Estate | |||
| 9 | Muk Hung Street | |||
| 10 | Concorde Road | East Kowloon Regional Police Headquarters | ||
| 11 | San Po Kong | Prince Edward Road East | The Latitude |
near Trade and Industry Tower |
| 12 | Kowloon City | Prince Edward Road East | Regal Oriental Hotel |
|
| 13 | Hau Wong Road | |||
| 14 | Ma Tau Wai | La Salle Road | ||
| 15 | Earl Street | |||
| 16 | Ho Man Tin | Knight Street | ||
| 17 | Diocesan Girls' School | near Fa Hui Park, Mong Kok Stadium | ||
| 18 | Mong Kok | Heep Woh Primary School | near Mong Kok Flower Market | |
| 19 | Prince Edward Station |
near Allied Plaza | ||
| 20 | Nathan Road | Bank Centre |
near Nelson Street | |
| 21 | Sino Centre | near Soy Street | ||
| 22 | Yau Ma Tei | Wing Sing Lane |
Section fare begins here | |
| 23 | Jordan | Nathan Hotel | near Saigon Street | |
| 24 | Jordan Road | Parkes Street |
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| 25 | Battery Street | |||
| 26 | Canton Road | Wui Cheung Road |
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| 27 | Tsim Sha Tsui | Austin Road | near Xiqu Centre | |
| 28 | Silvercord | |||
| 29 | Peking Road | near Harbour City, 1881, Star Ferry | ||
| 30 | Kowloon Park Drive | Kowloon Park Drive |
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| 31 | West Kowloon Reclamation Area | HSR West Kowloon Station |
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Ridership[]
Initially, Route 20A overlapped with most of the sections of the main route 20, and the patronage had been low for a long time. As a result, Citybus arranged for Route 20A to be rerouted to Canton Road and Nathan Road, but it was subject to competition from KMB's Routes 1A, 3C and 24, which, coupled with the fact that it was once operated on a circular basis, resulted in unstable service frequency and was often empty.
According to the Bus Route Planning Programme and other information, the ridership of the route is as follows:
- 2021: The occupancy rate during the peakiest hour was 28%; the then Yau Tsim Mong District Council member, Mr Leslie Chan Ka-long, queried the authenticity of the data and was informed by TD that the occupancy rate was about 10% as derived from a patronage survey conducted in late November 2020 when the epidemic had relatively subsided.[14]
- 2022: The occupancy rate was 11% during the peakiest hour.
- 2023: The occupancy rate was 11% during the peakiest hour.
Controversy[]
Citybus and the Transport Department's proposal to substantially revise the routing and extend the service hours of this route in the 2021-2022 Bus Route Planning Programme has aroused opposition from the Yau Tsim Mong District Council (YTMDC). Representatives of the GMB companies, Mr Tse Cheuk-yu, considered that the proposal would substantially overlap with the existing minibus routes 12S, 46, 70, etc., and Mr Ngai Pui-yeung, Director of Holy Gain Limited, even pointed out that it would affect the business turnover of minibus routes by 20-30%. Some Yau Tsim Mong District Council members were worried that the proposal of converting this route into a circular one would fail to take into account the physiological needs of bus captains. The Yau Tsim Mong District Council passed a motion requesting the withdrawal of this route diversion proposal.[15][16] Subsequently, the media revealed that KMB was dissatisfied with the overlap of the alignment of this route with the existing Yau Tsim Mong bus routes operated by KMB after the reorganisation of Citybus and reflected their views to the authorities, which led to the need for the Transport Department to take into account various factors, thus resulting in the delay in vetting and approving the application for reorganisation of the bus routes. [17] However, the Kowloon City District Council was dissatisfied with the delay in implementing the route changes and passed an interim motion requesting that the changes be implemented as soon as possible [18][19]. After a round of wrestling, the relevant changes came into effect on 25 October 2021.
After this route was upgraded, Kowloon City District Council was still dissatisfied that only two trips were detouring via Muk On Street on each service day, which could not meet the demand of passengers in Kai Tak area, and demanded that all the trips of this route should be detoured via Muk On Street and Muk Tai Street[20], or even be upgraded to a whole day service.[21]
Anecdotes[]
The "Pac-Man" themed promotions are hung at all bus stops which are served by Route 20A
When Route 20A was re-routed to run via Canton Road and Nathan Road, Citybus used the theme of "Pac-Man" to promote the new route, including designing bus banner advertisements, station decorations, easy-mount frames, Instagram filters, and a "letter from a child" stating that Nathan Road was "boring" with only "red buses", and claiming that the new route would "eat up" all the hotspots in urban Kowloon.[22][23][24] When Route 20A extended its service area to the Kai Tak runway area, Citybus further designed a full-body advertisement with the theme of "Pac-Man", promoting the route to the Hong Kong Children's Hospital and the Kai Tak Cruise Terminal. In early 2024, Citybus picked Route 20A as one of the 15 "Trunk Routes" and named it "Nathan Road Line". [25]
Gallery[]
.JPG "6493@20A(0723).JPG (3.11 MB)")
Remarks[]
- ↑ Displayed as "West Kowloon Station" (西九龍站) on the Motion Bus Stop Display List.
Related Articles[]
- Citybus Route 20
- Citybus Route 20R
- Citybus Route 20S
- KMB Route A4 (Cancelled)
- Citybus Route N20
References[]
- ↑ Transport Department HKSARG, "Introduction of CTB Route No. 20A Kai Tak (Muk On Street) to West Kowloon Station Bus Terminus" [Traffic Advice], 17 July 2020.
- ↑ Citybus Limited, "Citybus Launches Route 20A and N20" [News Release], 17 July 2020.
- ↑ Citybus Limited & New World First Bus Services Limited, "NWFB Citybus Introduce New e-Payment System Accepting Payment by Multiple Transit QR Codes in the First Phase" [News Release], 31 December 2020.
- ↑ Transport Department HKSARG, "Service Adjustment of CTB Route No. 20A West Kowloon Station Bus Terminus to Kai Tak (Shing Kai Road) (CIRCULAR)" [Traffic Advice], 20 October 2021.
- ↑ Citybus Limited, "Citybus Route 20A Will Serve Mong Kok and Tsim Sha Tsui" [News Release], 21 October 2021.
- ↑ Citybus Limited, "Route 20A Temporary Service Suspension" [Passenger Notice], 2 March 2022.
- ↑ Citybus Limited, "Route 20A Resumption of Original Service" [Passenger Notice], 20 April 2022.
- ↑ Citybus Limited & New World First Bus Services Limited, "Routes 20A, H2 Relocation of Bus Stop at Nathan Road near Grand Plaza" [Passenger Notice], 12 August 2022.
- ↑ Citybus Limited, "Route 20A Cancellation of Bus Stop at HSR West Kowloon Station Boarding and Alighting Area" [Passenger Notice], 16 September 2022.
- ↑ Transport Department HKSARG, "Service Adjustments of CTB Route No. 20A West Kowloon Station Bus Terminus to Kai Tak Cruise Terminal" [Traffic Advice], 25 August 2023.
- ↑ Citybus Limited, "Citybus Strengthens Cruise Terminal Regular Bus Service Route 20A Connects Cruise Terminal, Runway Area and Yau Tsim Mong" [News Release], 25 August 2023.
- ↑ Citybus Limited, "Route 20A Service Enhancement" [Passenger Notice], 19 March 2024.
- ↑ Citybus Limited, "開辦全新路線20A" (Commencement of New Route 20A) [Staff Notice], 17 July 2020.
- ↑ Yau Tsim Mong District Council Secretariat, "2020至2023年度油尖旺區議會 交通及運輸事務委員會 第七次會議記錄（第69點）" (Yau Tsim Mong District Council Traffic and Transport Committee Minutes of the 7th meeting held in 2020-2023 (Point 69)), March 2021.
- ↑ Yau Tsim Mong District Council Secretariat, "2020至2023年度油尖旺區議會 交通及運輸委員會 第七次會議記錄" (Yau Tsim Mong District Council Traffic and Transport Committee Seventh Meeting Minutes 2020-2023), March 2021.
- ↑ "城巴20A擬改道直插彌敦道 油尖旺區議會反對" (Citybus to amend routing of Rt. 20A to serve Nathan Road, opposed by YTMDC members), inmedia, 17 March 2021.
- ↑ "新聞追擊｜城巴申重組啟德線 九個月未批" (Citybus to apply for reorganisation of Kai Tak routes, still not approved after 9 months), Sing Tao Daily, 17 September 2021.
- ↑ "動議：要求盡快落實《2021-2022年度巴士路線計劃》" (Motion: Request to implement 2021-2022 BRPP as soon as possible), Kowloon City District Council Traffic and Transport Committee Paper No. 72/21, 13 September 2021.
- ↑ "動議：要求盡快落實《2021-2022年度巴士路線計劃》投票結果" (Voting results of the Motion: Request to implement 2021-2022 BRPP as soon as possible), Voting record of the eleventh meeting of the Traffic and Transport Committee of the Kowloon City District Council.
- ↑ "要求城巴20A路線於啟德沐安街永久增設巴士站點" (Request for Citybus Route 20A to provide a permanent bus stop at Muk On Street, Kai Tak), Kowloon City District Council Traffic and Transport Committee Paper No. 77/21, 27 October 2021
- ↑ "爭取城巴20A號路線 提升至全日服務及繞經啟德兒童醫院" (Striving for the upgrading of Citybus Route 20A to a whole-day service and detouring via Kai Tak Children's Hospital), Kowloon City District Council Traffic and Transport Committee Paper No. 12/22, 11 April 2022
- ↑ 城巴 Citybus, "下星期一食鬼城巴降臨彌敦道…" [Facebook post], 21 October 2021.
- ↑ Related post of "城巴 Citybus" facebook page, 22 October 2021.
- ↑ 城巴 Citybus, "全港最靚的巴士主題IG濾鏡上線啦～兩款濾鏡任君自己選擇" [Facebook post], 24 October 2021.
- ↑ "城巴研今年申加價 重組推15主幹線" (Citybus to consider fare increase this year, reorganising routes and launching 15 Trunk Routes), Ming Pao, 21 February 2024.
External Links[]
- Citybus Official Route Information: (to Kai Tak Cruise Terminal (via: Mong Kok))
- Citybus Official Route Information: (to High Speed Rail West Kowloon Station (via: Mong Kok))
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| Italic is a specific time period service/part-time route; → is only from Yau Tsim Mong District; ← is only a service to Yau Tsim Mong District | |||||||||||||||||||