The Cross-Harbour Bus Route 970 is operated solely by Citybus. It runs between Cyberport and So Uk Estate, via Wah Fu Estate, Pok Fu Lam, The University of Hong Kong and Sai Ying Pun on Hong Kong Island, as well as Jordan, Yau Ma Tei, Mong Kok, Sham Shui Po and Cheung Sha Wan in Kowloon, which is the major cross-harbour route in Pok Fu Lam together with Route 970X.
Despite the poor service of China Motor Bus (CMB) in the 1990s, the Administration still granted CMB a route between Western Harbour Crossing and Southern District. The Transport Department (TD) pointed out that applications for new routes were assessed on a case-by-case basis, and the cross-harbour routes were no exception. As the Administration was satisfied with CMB's timetable for this route and the arrangement of providing air-conditioned bus service for the whole route, the franchise was awarded to CMB.
1 May 1997: China Motor Bus (CMB) introduced brand new Route 970, connecting Aberdeen and So Uk, making it one of the first WHC routes to be commenced.[1]
5 February 1998: Morning Special Departures from Tin Wan to So Uk on weekdays were introduced.[2]
24 May 1998: Tin Wan Bus Terminus was relocated into the new Public Transport Interchange under Tin Wan Shopping Centre.
26 May 1999: Payment by Octopus Card was accepted on this route.
5 March 2000: New bus stop at "Nelson Street" was added to replace "Shantung Street" for Aberdeen bound.
31 July 2000: First bus hours from So Uk was advanced to 05:30 on Mondays to Saturdays.
20 October 2000:New bus stop at Water Street was added.
22 January 2001: Special Departure from Tin Wan was renumbered as Route 970X and evening peak-hour services were introduced.
9 December 2001: Buses were diverted via Western Street for Aberdeen bound, omitting Eastern Street.
12 January 2004: Service hours from So Uk was extended to 01:30 on a trial basis, with departures after 00:30 omit Chi Fu Fa Yuen.
16 February 2004: Last bus from So Uk at 01:30 were regularised and all departures were detoured via Chi Fu Fa Yuen.
19 July 2004: Revised to run between Cyberport and So Uk and omitted Chi Fu Fa Yuen and Aberdeen, in conjunction with the service re-organization of 970 series routes.
Supplementary route 970X was strengthened to whole-day service and changed to terminate at Aberdeen instead of Tin Wan. The route was diverted via Chi Fu Fa Yuen before resuming its original routing at Pok Fu Lam Road.
Supplementary Route 970P was cancelled.
17 January 2011: Two evening special departures from Pokfield Road (Academic Terrace) to Mong Kok (Bute Street) were introduced.
17 February 2012: Bus stop "Bisney Road" was cancelled for Cyberport bound.
25 November 2015: From 10:00 onwards, buses were diverted via Lin Cheung Road, slip road near CAS Headquarters and West Kowloon Highway before resuming its original routing to Cyberport due to the temporary closure of the bus-only down ramp from Jordan Road to Western Harbour Crossing Toll Plaza bus stop. The routing was resumed to normal at 10:00 on 21 July 2021.[3]
25 March 2017: New section fare from Cheung Sha Wan Station (Tonkin Street) to So Uk was introduced while the existing section fare from Queen Mary Hospital to Cyberport was lowered.[4]
1 July 2013: Octopus interchange concessions with Route 702 was introduced with the extension of NWFB's franchise.[5]
15 December 2017: "Next Bus" arrival enquiry service was introduced on this route.[6]
29 July 2019: Special departure from Pokfield Road was cancelled.
4 October 2020: New Octopus Bus-Bus Interchange concession between this route, 970X and X970 was introduced.[7]
7 December 2020: First bus hours from So Uk was advanced to 05:40 on Mondays to Saturdays.[8][9]
Details of the past service hours and headways, fares and other route information of this route are set out in the "Historical route information" sub-page of this article.
Half-fare for children aged below 12 and senior citizens aged 65 or above; the remainder of the fare after half-fare will be counted as 10 cents.
Elderly persons aged 65 or above using Senior Octopus Cards or Personalised Octopus cards, Hong Kong residents aged 60 to 64 using JoyYou Card, and eligible persons with disabilities using Personalised Octopus cards with "Persons with Disabilities Status" can enjoy a flat fare of $2.0 per journey under the $2 Concessionary Fare. If the concessionary fare for eligible persons with disabilities aged below 12 and senior citizens aged 65 or above is less than $2.0 after a 50% discount from the regular fare, the beneficiary is only required to pay the original concessionary fare; if the original full fare for Hong Kong residents aged 60 to 64 or eligible persons with disabilities is already less than $2.0, the beneficiary is also only required to pay the original full fare.
Passengers are required to tender exact fare by cash or by Octopus card when boarding. No exact change will be given.
Passengers may also use AlipayHK "EasyGo", Alipay, QuickPass, BoC Pay "RideCode", WeChat Pay HK or WeChat "Ride Code", Visa, Mastercard and UnionPay cards with inductive payment capabilities, as well as Apple Pay, Google Pay, Samsung Pay and Huawei Pay mobile payment platforms for fare payment. Passengers using the above payment method can only enjoy the interchange concessions with other Citybus solely-operated routes or the Citybus departures of the jointly-operated routes, and cannot enjoy the "Public Transport Fare Subsidy Scheme" nor the "Public Transport Fare Concession Scheme for the Elderly and Eligible Persons with Disabilities".
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:CHT Route 970 Bus-Bus Interchange Concession Scheme
Western Harbour Crossing Bus-Bus Interchange Concession Scheme[]
Queen Mary Hospital Bus-Bus Interchange Concession Scheme[]
Template:Queen Mary Hospital Bus-Bus Interchange Concession Scheme
Bus Deployments[]
Bus Deployment History[]
Routing[]
To So Uk[]
Routing
Roads observed
① Regular
Information Crescent, Cyberport Road, Victoria Road, Wah Chui Street, Wah King Street, Wah Fu Road, Pok Fu Lam Road, Second Street, Water Street, Western Harbour Crossing, Jordan Road Flyover, Jordan Road, Nathan Road, Cheung Sha Wan Road, Tonkin Street, Po On Road and Cheung Fat Street
②* Shortworking Trips to Mong Kok
……, Jordan Road Flyover, Jordan Road and Nathan Road
Cross-Harbour Bus Route 970 (Cyberport → So Uk Estate)
Section fare begins here Designated Interchange Stop for WHT Routes near Elements For M+ , Hong Kong Palace Museum and West Kowloon Cultural District, please alight at this stop
Via: Kwong Lee Road, Tonkin Street, Castle Peak Road, Yen Chow Street, Cheung Sha Wan Road, Nathan Road, Jordan Road, Western Harbour Crossing, Connaught Road West, Western Street, Pok Fu Lam Road, Wah Fu Road, Wah King Street, Wah Chui Street, Victoria Road, Cyberport Road and Information Crescent
Cross-Harbour Bus Route 970 (So Uk Estate → Cyberport)
Designated Interchange Stop for WHC Routes Near Elements For M+, Hong Kong Palace Museum and West Kowloon Cultural District, please alight at this stop
Western Harbour Crossing
Designated Interchange Stop for WHT Routes