The Kowloon Urban Bus Route 203C is operated by Kowloon Motor Bus (KMB). It runs between Sham Shui Po (Tai Hang Tung) and Tsim Sha Tsui East (Mody Road), via Shek Kip Mei (Nam Shan Estate), Yau Yat Chuen, Mong Kok, King's Park (Queen Elizabeth Hospital), Jordan and Tsim Sha Tsui (Canton Road→/Nathan Road).
History[]
Background of commencement[]
Before 2013, there were two franchised bus services to and from Festival Walk Public Transport Interchange and Tsim Sha Tsui, namely Routes 2C and 203, but both of them had their own defects:
- The fare of Route 203 was relatively high. At that time, the full fare was $7.7, which was more than half higher than the $4.7 of Line 2C;
- The passenger volume of the two routes has been low for a long time. According to the data listed in the 2013-2014 Bus Route Development Programme, the patronage of the busiest hour of Route 2C is 36%, and the non-peak hour ridership is 32%, while the the patronage of the busiest hour of Route 203 is 40%, and thhat of non-peak hours is 32%;
- Both routes pass through Nathan Road and Mong Kok downtown, and the service scope overlaps.
Seeing this, the authorities proposed to merge the above two routes in the 2013-2014 Bus Route Development Programme. The original plan was to move the starting point of the Route 2C to Tsim Sha Tsui East (Mody Road) Public Transport Interchange and take Yau Yat Chuen as the circular point, and change to reverse clockwise around Yau Yat Chuen and Festival Walk Public Transport Interchange, Nam Shan Estate and Tai Hang Tung Bus Terminus, and the headways would be enhanced; while Route 203 would be cancelled. Although the Sham Shui Po and [[[ Yau Tsim Mong District|Yau Tsim Mong]] District Councils passed the relevant plan, it was opposed by residents in Tai Hang Tung and Yau Yat Chuen.
Later, the authorities submitted a revised plan at the request of the district councilors, with Tai Hang Tung Bus Terminus and Tsim Sha Tsui East (Mody Road) as the termini. After leaving from Tai Hang Tung, buses would first make a detour via Yau Yat Chuen, and then turn back to Tat Chee Road and the original routing at Tai Hang Tung Road. The revised routing, in addition to making a detour via Yau Yat Chuen and changed to terminate at Tsim Sha Tsui East (Mody Road), it can be said that the new route was exactly the same as the old Route 2C; while the service scope of the original Route 203 (around Nathan Road) would be replaced by the transfer discount of this route and multiple routes.
Number dispute[]
As mentioned in the previous paragraph, the authorities plan to use "2C" as the route number after the merger, but the residents of Yau Yat Chuen strived to use the number "203", which has long deeply rooted in the hearts of the people in their area, while residents around Kowloon Tsai (the constituency of "Nam Shan, Tai Hang Tung and Tai Hang Sai") insisted on using "2C" as the number. Considering that the residents on both sides are not at their dispute over the route numbering, the route numbering in the revised plan was changed to a compromised plan, adopting the number "203C" derived from the original numbering of the two routes, the Transport Department explained:
After the merger, the number of the route would be changed to Route 203C. The new bus route number is easier for passengers to understand that the route has changed. This number retains the shadow of the first two routes of the merger. Residents of Yau Yat Chuen or Kowloon Tsai can understand that the route after the merger is related to the original 2C and 203, but the routing is different, which helps passengers adapt to the route change as soon as possible.[1]
Although the residents of Kowloon Tsai and Yau Yat Chuen have different orientations on the numbering of the new route, they are also deeply dissatisfied with the new route number "203C". Some legislators even put forward proposals like "one route with double number" (「一線雙號」), or "1314" (symbolising the year of reorganisation), "348" (the councillor refers to the homophonic of "Sham Shui Po") and other counter-proposal suggestions , in order to do their best to calm down the dispute as soon as possible. At its meeting on 14 January 2014, the Sham Shui Po District Council passed the following resolution by a large number:
- 1. "It is suggested that the bus reorganisation plan should taks into account the wishes of the residents of the two districts, oppose the naming of 203C for the new route and rename its number"
- 2. "The Sham Shui Po District Council urged the Transport Department and KMB to reduce the dispute over the bus route number of residents in each district, and recommend using the route number 4A to replace the number 203C proposed after the merger of Routes 2C and 203, and change the above-mentioned bidrectional departures from Tai Hang Tung and Tsim Sha Tsui into a circular route, and the terminal should be located in Tai Hang Tung Estate."
After that, the authorities decided to commence Route 203C as scheduled on 18 January 2014, and the original special departures of Route 203 from Chak On Estate would be renamed as Route 203S, and the fare remains unchanged. However, when the bus arrives at Tsim Sha Tsui East (Mody Road), it will terminate immediately and would not return to Yau Yat Chuen.
Because the authorities insist on using "203C" as the new line number, at about 5 a.m. on the day of the opening day, Wei Haiying (韋海英), a then-district councilor, and more than a dozen residents dissatisfied with the arrangement sat quietly in front of the bus bay ofTai Hang Tung Bus Terminus to protest, intending to prevent the departure of the debut departure. However, KMB, who knew everything in advance, had already formulated a backup plan and arranged a bus (AAS3/SE5981) to park in the bus bay as usual, pretending to be the first shuttle bus to disturb the line of sight, while the bus that really ran the debut departure (AAS11/SF5443) was parked in Nam Shan Estate in advance to wait for the dawn, and then drive to Tai Hang Tung Road outside the Tai Hang Tung Bus Terminus to pick up passengers, so that the service was not affected by the sit-in protests.[2]
History of operations[]
- 18 January 2014: The original Routes 2C and 203 were merged into Route 203C.
- 10 August 2014: Bus stop at "East Tsim Sha Tsui Railway Station" on Salisbury Road was added for Tsim Sha Tsui direction, whereas another bus stop at "Tseuk Kiu Street" was added for Tai Hang Tung direction when omitting Begonia Road.
- 27 June 2015: Estimated Time of Arrival Enquiry System was added to this route.
- 28 August 2022: The last bus from Tai Hang Tung was advanced from 23:30 to 21:00, and the last bus from Tsim Sha Tsui East (Mody Road) was advanced from 00:20 to 23:00.
- 11 October 2022: The bus stop "Peninsula Hotel" on Nathan Road for Tai Hang Tung direction was moved to "Middle Road Tsim Sha Tsui".
Historical route information[]
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.
Service hours and headways[]
The latest update is on 8/2022, see here for the referenced link
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- This route provides Estimated Time of Arrival Enquiry Service.
Fares[]
| Journey/Boarding Stop | Air-conditioned Fare |
|---|---|
| Full Fare | $5.4 |
| Fare Remarks |
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Bus Interchange Concession Schemes[]
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:KMB Route 203C Interchange Concession Scheme
Tsim Sha Tsui BBI Interchange Concession Scheme[]
Template:Tsim Sha Tsui BBI Interchange Concession Scheme
LWB A Routes and KMB Interchange Concession Scheme[]
| LWB Airport Routes ("A Routes") and KMB Interchange Concession Scheme | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st leg | Direction | 2nd leg | Direction | Discount for 2nd leg | Time limit |
| A30, A31, A32, A33, A33X, A34, A36, A37, A38, A41, A41P, A42, A43, A43P *, A46, A47X | to Urban | KMB Solely-operated Routes | Any | $6.0 or Actual Fare of KMB leg (Ones with lower fare comes first) |
120mins |
| KMB Solely-operated routes | Any | A30, A31, A32, A33, A33X, A34, A36, A37, A38, A41, A41P, A42, A43, A43P *, A46, A47X | to Airport | ||
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Note:
＊: For interchanging from KMB Route B1 (Tin Tsz direction) to LWB Route A43P ( Airport direction), the actual fare paid for the first journey will be refunded for the next journey, except that the interchange concession cannot be enjoyed for the first journey of Route B1, otherwise, only the normal (i.e. maximum $6.0) interchange concession will be offered; for interchange from LWB Route A43P (Luen Wo Hui direction) to KMB Route B1 (Lok Ma Chau direction), passengers will be offered a free interchange concession for the second journey, but no interchange discount will be offered for the first journey of route A43P and no other interchange concession will be offered for route B1 thereafter. This special offer is not applicable to other LWB A routes (including Routes A36, A37 and A43). | |||||
Bus Deployments[]
This route can only be served by single-decker buses due to the presence of low trees on Peony Road which makes it difficult for double-decker buses to pass through.
Even though departures not via Peony Road and Begonia Road are not affected by the vehicle restriction, they are not supported by double-decker buses due to limited demand.
This route was assigned with 5 BYD B12A 12m (BEB) single-decker buses as scheduled buses. These can carry up to 81 passengers.
Occassionally, Scania K230UB 10.6m (ASB), Volvo B7RLE 12m (AVC) and Enviro200 10.5m Single-door version (AAS) buses may appear on this route as special sight(s).
| List of buses on Route 203C | ||
|---|---|---|
| Fleet No. | Plate No. | Depot |
| BEB1 | XV5838 | Lai Chi Kok Depot (L) |
| BEB3 | XZ5361 | |
| BEB4 | XZ5734 | |
| BEB7 | XZ9104 | |
| BEB8 | XZ8597 | |
The above scheduled buses information is up to date as of 2023 2, forwarded from ACROSS website.The above buses might not be listed according to running orders.
The related content is for reference only and will be updated according to fleet changes (check update list). To check scheduled bus changes, refer to detailed information on ACROSS website.2223
Bus Deployment Evolution History[]
During the initial period of service on Route 203C, this route was assigned with the Enviro200 Dart 10.5m single-door version (AAS, withdrawn) single-deck air-conditioned buses that had been released following the cancellation of Routes 2C and 203, and those from the original Route 208.
In September 2016, Enviro200 Dart 10.4m dual-door version buses (AAU, withdrawn) entered service on this route.
In June 2020, BYD K9Rs (BDE, withdrawn) joined this route.
Starting from 17 May 2022, one BYD B12A single-decker electric bus was added to this route, of which (BEB3/XZ5361) made its debut trip on that day to collect data on the driving performance of electric buses and to test the performance of this bus model on busy corridors and sloping roads, and then one month later, the route's buses were gradually replaced by this model, and then to the whole route in January of the following year.
Routing[]
- AM: The distance of this route is approx. 8.8km, and the journey time is approximately 58mins. (The average speed is 9.1km/h.)
- PM: The distance of this route is approx. 8.8km, and the journey time is approximately 66mins. (The average speed is 8km/h.)
to Tsim Sha Tsui East (Mody Road)[]
Via: Tai Hang Tung Road, Tong Yam Street, Tai Hang Tung Road, To Yuen Street, Tat Chee Avenue, Festival Walk Public Transport Interchange, Tat Chee Avenue, Tai Hang Tung Road, Boundary Street, Lai Tak Street, Prince Edward Road West, Sai Yee Street, Argyle Street, Yim Po Fong Street, Waterloo Road, Wylie Road, Gascoigne Road, Jordan Road, Canton Road and Salisbury Road
| KMB Route 203C (Sham Shui Po (Tai Hang Tung) → Tsim Sha Tsui East (Mody Road)) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Area | Road | Bus Stop Name | Remarks |
| 1 | Tai Hang Tung | Sham Shui Po (Tai Hang Tung) Bus Terminus | ||
| 2 | Tong Yam Street | Tai Hang Tung Recreation Ground | ||
| 3 | Tai Hang Tung Road | Man Hing House | ||
| 4 | Shek Kip Mei | Nam On House Nam Shan Estate | ||
| 5 | Nam Tai House Nam Shan Estate | |||
| 6 | Yau Yat Chuen | To Yuen Street | Heung To Middle School | |
| 7 | Festival Walk  |
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| 8 | Tat Chee Avenue | Hong Kong Productivity Council | ||
| 9 | Village Gardens | |||
| 10 | Tseuk Kiu Street | |||
| 11 | Fa Hui Park | |||
| 12 | Kowloon Tong | Knight Street | Knight Street | |
| 13 | Mong Kok | Prince Edward Road West | Heep Woh Primary School |  Interchange to Routes 1 and 1A to Tsim Sha Tsui
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| 14 | Sai Yee Street | Queen Elizabeth School | ||
| 15 | Yim Po Fong Street | Macpherson Playground | ||
| 16 | King's Park | Wylie Road | Homantin Hill Road | |
| 17 | Queen Elizabeth Hospital | |||
| 18 | Jordan | Jordan Road | Kowloon Union Church |
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| 19 | Parkes Street Jordan |
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| 20 | Battery Street Jordan | |||
| 21 | Tsim Sha Tsui | Canton Road | Austin Road  |
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| 22 | Silvercord | |||
| 23 | Salisbury Road | East Tsim Sha Tsui Station |
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| 24 | Tsim Sha Tsui East | Tsim Sha Tsui East (Mody Road) |
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to Sham Shui Po (Tai Hang Tung)[]
| Routing | Roads observed |
| ① Regular |
Mody Road, Chatham Road South, Salisbury Road, Nathan Road, Gascoigne Road, Wylie Road, Waterloo Road, Yim Po Fong Street, Luen Wan Street, Bute Street, Sai Yee Street, Prince Edward Road West, Tung Choi Street, Boundary Street, Tai Hang Tung Road, Tat Chee Avenue, Peony Road, Begonia Road, Tat Chee Avenue, Festival Walk Public Transport Interchange, To Yuen Street, Lung Chu Street and Tai Hang Tung Road |
|---|---|
| ②＊ Monday to Saturday peak hours omit Peony Road and Begonia Road |
......, Boundary Street, Tai Hang Tung Road, Tat Chee Avenue, Festival Walk Public Transport Interchange, To Yuen Street,...... |
| Kowloon Motor Bus Route 203C (Tsim Sha Tsui East (Mody Road) → Sham Shui Po (Tai Hang Tung)） | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Area | Road | Bus Stop Name | Remarks |
| 1 | Tsim Sha Tsui East | Tsim Sha Tsui East (Mody Road) |
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| 2 | Tsim Sha Tsui | Salisbury Road | East Tsim Sha Tsui Station |
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| 3 | Nathan Road | Tsim Sha Tsui BBI - Middle Road (N3) |
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| 4 | Kimberley Road (N12) | |||
| 5 | Jordan | Bowring Street Yau Ma Tei (N21) |
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| 6 | Ning Po Street Yau Ma Tei (N26) |
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| 7 | Yau Ma Tei | Gascoigne Road | Labour Tribunal | |
| 8 | King's Park | Wylie Road | ||
| 9 | Wylie Road | Queen Elizabeth Hospital | ||
| 10 | Homantin Hill Road | |||
| 11 | Mong Kok | Yim Po Fong Street | MacPherson Playground | |
| 12 | Luen Wan Street | Luen Wan Street |
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| 13 | Sai Yee Street | Queen Elizabeth School | ||
| 14 | Tung Choi Street | Prince Edward Station |
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| 15 | Sham Shui Po | Boundary Street | Police Sports and Recreation Club | |
| 16 | Yau Yat Chuen | Tat Chee Avenue | Osmanthus Road | |
| 17 # | Yau Yat Chuen | Begonia Road | Concordia Lutheran School | Not applicable to departures using Routing ② |
| 18 # | Verbena Road | |||
| * | Yau Yat Chuen | Tat Chee Avenue | Tseuk Kiu Street | Applicable to departures using Routing ② |
| 19 | Yau Yat Chuen | Tat Chee Avenue | Parc Oasis | |
| 20 | Festival Walk |
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| 21 | To Yuen Street | Heung To Middle School | ||
| 22 | Tai Hang Tung | Tai Hang Tung Road | Tung Fai House Tai Hang Tung Estate | |
| 23 | Tung Hoi House Tai Hang Tung Estate | |||
| 24 | Sham Shui Po (Tai Hang Tung) Bus Terminus | |||
Ridership[]
According to the Bus Route Planning Programme, the ridership of the route is as follows:
- 2016: The occupancy rate in the busiest hour was 45%, and was marked as "Fairly stable, but still not ideal"; about 400 passengers towards TST East alighted at Jordan Road and Canton Road, which amounted to 20% of the existing passengers.
- 2022: The occupancy rate in the busiest hour was 53%, and that towards Tsim Sha Tsui at night was less than 10%; the occupancy rate towards Tai Hang Tung after 23:00 was less than 20%.
Related Incidents[]
- 22 March 2016: At around 4pm, an Enviro200 Dart (AAS5/SE9403) heading towards Tai Hang Tung was approaching Peony Road when it ran out of time for braking and crashed with a 7-seater car coming out from Cassia Road. No one was injured in the accident.[3]
- 2 March 2023: At around 11am, a BYD B12A (BEB1/XV5838) was turning from Tat Chee Avenue into Festival Walk when its front door was damaged by a motorcycle approaching from the opposite lane. The motorcyclist was injured.[4]
Gallery[]
@kmb_203C_(24-3-2017).JPG "AAS3(SE5981)@kmb 203C (24-3-2017).JPG (1,023 KB)")
.JPG "AVC51RG4538@kmb 203C (13-3-2017).JPG (1.05 MB)")
@kmb_203C_(2017_03_30).JPG "AAS10(SF3341)@kmb 203C (2017 03 30).JPG (1.05 MB)")
Remarks[]
Related Articles[]
- KMB Route 2C (Cancelled)
- KMB Route 4A (Cancelled)
- KMB Route 7A (1st generation) (Cancelled)
- KMB Route 203 (Cancelled)
- KMB Route 203S
- Kowloon GMB Route 41M
References[]
- ↑ Transport Department HKSARG, 建議合併九巴第2C及203號線服務 (Suggestion to merge services of KMB Route Nos. 2C and 203), Sham Shui Po District Council Panel on Transport Paper 93/13, November 2013.
- ↑ 詳盡直擊報導203C,203S首航情況(長文多相，另有小插曲) (Detailed report of debut of Routes 203C, 203S (Long text and multiple pictures, with brief interludes)), hkitalk.net
- ↑ 【有車cam】九龍塘九巴撼七人車 絲襪飛出吊吊揈 ([With car cam] A KMB bus collided with 7-seater car at Kowloon Tong, stockings flying out of car), Apple Daily Breaking News, 23 Mar 2016.
- ↑ 電單車又一城失事撼單層九巴 外賣員受傷送院 (Motorcycle lost control and crashed with KMB bus outside Festival Walk, courier injured and hospitalised), HK01, 2 Mar 2023.
External links[]
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