The Long Win Bus Company Limited (龍運巴士有限公司) , abbr. LWB (龍運巴士), is one of the four existing franchised bus companies in Hong Kong, mainly operating bus services between the Hong Kong International Airport and Tung Chung to and from the New Territories (except Sai Kung District[2]).
Overview[]
At present, LWB is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Transport International Holdings Limited and is a sister company of another franchised bus company, The Kowloon Motor Bus Company (1933) Limited, which makes the two companies very close. For example, LWB adopts KMB's fleet management system and many of its buses belong to the three depots of KMB rather than its self-managed depot in Siu Ho Wan, whereas LWB's special routes are allocated by KMB to the buses and bus captains, and special routes of LWB are allocated by KMB to buses and bus captains. All the route information of LWB was published on KMB's website for a long time, and it was not until 2012 to 2023 that an independent website was launched, but the detailed route information is still only available on KMB's website. Worse still, some of LWB's old buses were resold to KMB for continued operation until they were retired, a move that was criticised by the press.
LWB's registered office under the Companies Ordinance is located at KMB's headquarters at 9 Po Lun Street, Lai Chi Kok, Kowloon, which is also its contact address for communication with passengers; in fact, not long ago, LWB's bus headquarters was still located at Room 903, 9/F, Trade Square, 681 Cheung Sha Wan Road, Cheung Sha Wan, which is adjacent to Sun Bus' headquarters.
Under the Public Bus Services Ordinance (Chapter 230 of the Laws of Hong Kong), LWB was granted a non-exclusive franchise by the Chief Executive in Council to operate a group of routes to and from the Airport and North Lantau as specified in the Schedule of Routes Order for a period of 10 years with effect from 4:00 a.m. on 1 May 2013. On 12 July 2022, the Executive Council subsequently announced the extension of the LWB franchise to 1 May 2033.
History[]
Logo used by Long Win Bus (LWB) between 1997 and 10 June 2016
Long Win Bus Company Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of KMB Holdings (the predecessor of Transport International), was incorporated as Tosca Investment Limited on 19 March 1992 (for the purpose of acquiring routes owned), renamed The Kowloon Motor Bus Company (Zengcheng) Limited (九龍巴士（增城）有限公司) on 25 August of the same year, and then renamed Long Win Holdings Limited (龍運集團有限公司) on 28 June 1994, and then renamed Long Win Holdings Limited on 21 March 1997, and then renamed Long Win Bus Company Limited (龍運巴士有限公司) on 21 March 1997.
On 29 March 1996, the Hong Kong Government published in the Gazette a tender for the right to operate two groups of bus routes serving the urban areas of Hong Kong and Kowloon and the New Territories respectively, namely the Chek Lap Kok New Airport and North Lantau routes. KMB, in the name of the Long Win Group, submitted a tender[9] to compete with Citybus and the Kwoon Chung Bus Company Limited, a subsidiary of the Kwoon Chung Motors Group, for the right to operate the first and second groups of bus routes. In addition to submitting two separate tenders for the right to operate the first and second groups of bus routes, LW submitted a separate tender for the right to operate the entire group of buses. The Interdepartmental Committee responsible for assessing the bids agreed that LW's bid for the second group of routes was superior and, after consultation with the Chinese side, the Governor in Council ordered on 22 October 1996 that LWB be granted a franchise for a total of 12 routes in that group.
Despite less than a year's preparation, LWB's first bus route E31 was successfully launched on 22 May, followed by various Airport and North Lantau routes to and from the New Territories, as well as four airport shuttle routes to and from Tung Chung new towns. LWB suffered losses in the initial years of operation and applied for a fare increase in March 2001. Subsequently, LW's financial position improved as a result of route reorganisation and the increase in population in Tung Chung and other new towns, and LWB withdrew its application for a fare increase in April 2002 after taking into account the prevailing economic conditions in Hong Kong.
Due to route network constraints, LW has been actively exploring new sources of patronage over the years, and has joined hands with New Lantao Bus (NLB) to launch an Octopus Interchange Concession since 6 January 2003, which facilitates passengers from all over the New Territories to interchange with Lantau bus routes in Tung Chung town centre for travelling to and from Tung Chung North or Yat Tung Estate, including LWB Routes E32, E33, E34, E41, E42, and NLB Routes 37, 37A and 38. LWB launched its "E Route" Octopus Interchange Concession Scheme on 17 March to provide reciprocal interchange discounts on these routes and extended the discounts to all A and E routes from 21 June.
The Hong Kong Disneyland opened in September 2005, and LWB entered the Disneyland one month early, operating shuttle route R8 jointly with Citybus, as well as a number of Recreation Routes prefixed with the letter R. LWB also operated a special interchange concession scheme with Citybus to provide interchanges between the two routes. [15]
In 2007, KMB Route B1 serving the Lok Ma Chau Spur Line Control Point offered interchange concessions with Route E34, the first set of interchange discounts between KMB and LWB bus routes.
At the end of 2012, LWB set up an independent official website (www.lwb.hk), while passengers could still check LWB's route information on KMB's website at the same time. LWB and its parent company, KMB, first collaborated on 26 October the following year to offer an interchange discount from the first KMB route to LWB's Route E33 to the airport. On 28 March 2015, the two bus companies joined hands again to offer an interchange discount between KMB routes 290 and 290A and LWB routes E31 and E32 at the same time when these two KMB routes came into service.
As of mid-2012, there were 165 buses in the LWB fleet. Based on the average service life of 17 to 18 years for each bus in the industry, the fleet would reach its retirement peak in 2015. In terms of operation and maintenance, it is difficult for LWB to replace all its buses in one year. With the consent and supervision of the Transport Department, KMB purchased some of LWB's old buses with good performance and operation in 2012, which enabled LWB to advance the procurement of new buses in batches by 2014 so that the fleet replacement programme can be carried out in phases.
Re-branding[]
LWB logo used since June 2016, with the Chinese character logo "龍" (lit. dragon) imitating that of KMB
LWB's another version of logo with the character "龍"
In 2016, the Dennis Trident airport buses introduced at the beginning of LWB's operation have reached their statutory retirement age. While replacing the old buses with a batch of Enviro500 MMC "Facelift" version, LWB was also determined to revamp its corporate image. The new buses are not only free from the 20-year old Airbus livery paint, but are also equipped with a new design of brocade designs which were called "range hoods" by bus enthusiasts. The buses are also equipped with a number of new features, such as low-transparency windows, USB charging sockets, seat back magazine pockets, ceiling clocks, new arrival time forecasts on dynamic bus stop displays, etc., and the interiors are in a combination of grey, khaki and orange colours.
When this new force of airport buses was scheduled to make its maiden trip on routes A43 and A43P on 11 June 2016, LWB also changed the uniform design of its bus captains from white shirts to a dark grey and orange coloured jacket with a silhouette close to KMB's uniforms. LWB also adopted a new logo modelled on KMB's, enhancing the coherence of the two sister companies' identities.
In view of the limited service area of its "A" routes and the lack of interchange concessions such as those offered by Cityflyer to connect to various Hong Kong Island routes, which resulted in some of the newly introduced routes, such as routes A47 and A47X, being frequently empty, LWB collaborated with KMB to launch the LWB Airbus "A" Route Interchange Concession Scheme with KMB routes on 19 November of the same year. The original intention of the scheme was the same as that of Citybus, which was to make use of the passengers of district routes to expand the patronage of "A" routes.
Even though LWB failed to win the bid for the bus route between Sai Kung (including Tseung Kwan O) and the airport via Kwun Tong in 2000, seeing that Citybus's routes A22 and A29P for Kwun Tong and Tseung Kwan O Town Centre were quite circuitous and not very frequent, and that Citybus often deployed ordinary buses without deluxe compartments to provide downgraded services, LWB saw the chance to join the competition and started to compete with the company. Since March 2017, LWB has been posting advertisements on KMB stops and kiosks along the Kwun Tong and Tseung Kwan O routes where routes E22 and A29P served to promote the availability of interchange discounts on routes 38, 42C, 290, 290A, and A31 and A32. In addition, LWB made announcements at the annunciators of the four KMB routes, reminding passengers that they could enjoy up to $6.0 discount for interchanging to LWB's "A" routes, and providing suggestions on where to interchange, with the intention of attracting passengers with the selling points of more frequent trips, more direct routing and cheaper total fares. KMB has also added an announcement for interchanging to LWB "A" routes at the annunciator of Route 299X buses, and an announcement for interchanging to routes A41 and A41P were made when the Shatin-bound buses arrive at City One Shatin.
Routes[]
- The main article of this section is KMB and LWB route numbering method#LWB.
LWB operates bus routes to and from the Hong Kong International Airport and North Lantau to and from most parts of the New Territories (except Sai Kung), which are separate from Citybus (Franchise II) which mainly serves the urban areas of Hong Kong, Kowloon and Sai Kung for travelling to and from the Airport and North Lantau, and can be divided into four types of routes, namely, Airbus Routes (commonly known as "A Routes"), North Lantau External Bus Routes ("E Routes"), North Lantau Shuttle Bus Routes ("S Routes") and Recreation Bus Routes ("R Routes").
Information from the Transport Department shows that LWB operates 39 bus routes as at December 2021, but this number does not take into account other routes (such as Route A41P) that are classified as special trips by the authorities in, for example, the Schedule of Routes Order. The company carried a total of 36.7 million passengers in 2015, i.e. a daily average of 100,450 passengers, representing a 5.3% year-on-year growth.
Bus Fleets[]
LWB currently operates a fleet of all low-floor air-conditioned buses, with some of the buses being the more luxurious coach versions, e.g. equipped with aircraft-style seats, which are intended for use on the Airbus routes (A Routes), while the rest of the buses are normal city buses, which are not very different from the KMB fleets.
As at 31 December 2022, LWB has a total of 264 buses available, mainly using the LWB (badge "T"), but also using the depot of sister company, KMB; some of LWB's buses are assigned to KMB's Lai Chi Kok Depot (L), Tuen Mun Depot (U), Tuen Mun Depot (Yuen Long Sub-depot) (U) and Sha Tin Depot (S).
In addition, individual LWB routes may be served by KMB buses, particularly those with only a few trips a day, such as Disneyland routes and routes connecting to AsiaWorld-Expo. LWB may also borrow KMB's vehicles in case of shortage; historically, LWB has borrowed buses from KMB to meet emergencies during the initial opening of the new airport, after the introduction of the Route E33P in 2008, and during LWB's first decommissioning wave in 2016.
From May to December 2020, as KMB was facing a new wave of bus retirements and making KMB's bus supply tight, and the novel coronavirus outbreak caused the number of passengers travelling in and out of the airport to plummet, resulting in a surplus of LWB's fleet. In order to optimise the use of its fleet, KMB loaned some of LWB's Enviro500 (8401, 8403, 8405-8409, 8411-8413, 8415, 8423, 8427, 8429), Enviro500 MMC (9501-9516) and Volvo B9TL (701, 702, 704, 706-710) were seconded to KMB for contingency purposes and were then formally resold to KMB in December 2020. Starting from 4 May 2021, all buses which were transferred to KMB have been changed to be directly resold.
On 4 May 2021, the first batch of five regular Enviro500 MMC 12.8m were officially licensed and assigned the new series of fleet number "UE6X",[29] and made their debut trip on the following day on the routes A41, A43 and E34B (of which E34B has now been renumbered as E36).
In August 2021, the Volvo B8L 12.8m buses was also licensed and assigned with the new series of fleet number "UV6X", and made its first service on the Routes A43 and A43P the following day.
In November 2021, LWB temporarily lent one of its luxury Enviro500 MMC 12.8m (1549/WA4616) to KMB for use on First Class Service routes P960 and P968, and the licence for this vehicle is still owned by LWB.
Currently, LWB has sold all Euro III Volvo B9TL (701-710), Euro V Enviro500 (8501-8536), regular and semi-luxury Enviro500 MMC 12m (9501-9547, 6501-6526) to KMB.
Existing Fleets[]
| Information of existing Long Win Bus (LWB) fleets | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Model | Body | Fleet No. | Engine | Gearbox | Year of service commencement |
| Enviro500 12m (Normal version) |
Alexander Dennis Enviro500 Mk II |
804 - 808 | Cummins ISMe-335 (Euro 3) |
ZF Ecomat 2 5HP602C | 2006 |
| 8416 - 8420 | Cummins ISLe-340B (Euro 4) |
ZF Ecomat 4 6HP604C | 2009 | ||
| Enviro500 MMC 12.8m (Normal version) |
Alexander Dennis Enviro500 MMC Facelift |
UE6X1 - 81 | Cummins L9E6C340B (Euro 6) |
ZF EcoLife 6AP1700B | 2021 |
| Enviro500 MMC 12.8m (Coach version) |
1501 - 1551[3] | Cummins ISL8.9E5340B （Euro 5） |
2016 | ||
| Enviro500 MMC 12.8m (Semi-coach version) |
2501 - 2510 | 2017 | |||
| Enviro500 MMC 12m (Coach version) |
5501 - 5555 | 2016 | |||
| BYD K9R 12m | Gemilang | SE101 - 104 | BYD-TVC90A | BYD-2912TZ-XY-A | 2017 |
| Volvo B8L 12.8m (Normal version) |
MCV EvoSeti | UV6X1 - 65 | Volo B8K-350 (Euro 6) |
ZF EcoLife 6AP16000BS | 2021 |
| Wright Eclipse Gemini 3 | UV6X66 - 75 | 2023 | |||
Remarks
- All double-decker buses are fitted with luggage racks.
Retired or Sold Fleets[]
| Informaion of retired or sold fleets of Long Win Bus (LWB) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Model | Body | Fleet No. | Engine | Gearbox | Year retired or sold | Remark |
| Volvo Olympian 11m | Walter Alexander RH |
AV238-AV242 | Volvo D10A-245 （Euro 2） |
Voith DIWA 863.3 | 1998, 1999 | [4] |
| Volvo Olympian 12m | LW1-LW10 | ZF Ecomat 4HP500 | 1999 | [5] | ||
| Dennis Trident 12m (Normal version) |
Duple MetSec DM5000 |
ATR202, 231, 238 |
Cummins M11-305E (Euro 2）) |
ZF Ecomat 5HP590 | 2009 | [6] |
| Walter Alexander ALX500 |
101-225 | 1999, 2002, 2010-2016 |
[7] | |||
| Duple MetSec DM5000 |
301 | 2017 | ||||
| Dennis Trident 12m (Coach version) |
Walter Alexander ALX500 |
501-525 | 2016 | |||
| Dennis Lance 11.7 | Walter Alexander PS |
901-910 | Cummins 6CT | ZF Ecomat 4HP500 | 2010 | [8] |
| Volvo B9TL 12 (Normal version) |
Alexander Dennis Enviro500 Mk II |
701-710 | Volvo D9A-300 （Euro 3） |
ZF Ecomat 2 6HP592C | 2020, 2022 | [9] |
| Enviro500 12m (Normal version) |
8401-8415, 8421-8432 | Cummins ISLe-340B （Euro 4） |
ZF Ecomat 4 6HP604C | 2020-2022 | [10] | |
| 8501-8536 | Cummins ISL8.9E5340B (Euro 5) |
2021, 2022 | [11] | |||
| Enviro500 MMC 12m (Normal version) |
Alexander Dennis Enviro500 MMC |
9501-9547 | ZF EcoLife 6AP1700B | 2020, 2021 | [12] | |
| Enviro500 MMC 12m (Semi-coach version) |
6501 - 6526 | 2021 | [13] | |||
| Enviro500 12m (Normal version) |
Transbus Enviro500 Mk I |
801 - 803 | Cummins ISMe-335 (Euro 3) |
Voith DIWA 864.5 | 2023 | |
Remarks[]
- ↑ The last trip daily will terminate at Lantau Link BBI westbound and will not return to Disneyland.
Related Articles[]
- Kowloon Motor Bus
- Airbus
- Transport International
References[]
- ↑ [1]Updated as at 30 July 2023. This figure includes one of the buses temporarily loaned to KMB from November 2021 onwards. For details, please refer to the "Bus Fleets" section.
- ↑ Bus services to and from Sai Kung District and Tung Chung and the Airport are covered by Citybus (Franchise II).
- ↑ One of the buses (1549/WA4616) once loaned to Kowloon Motor Bus (KMB) from November 2021 onwards with the new fleet serial "E5L"; returned to LWB fleet in 2023.
- ↑ 九巴於1997年8月暫借予龍運，龍運於1998年底歸還九巴，九巴車隊編號為AV238-242，AV242座椅顏色為橙色。
- ↑ KMB loaned these buses to LWB in May 1997 and returned to KMB in early 1999 with KMB fleet number 3AV339-348.
- ↑ In November 2008, due to the shortage of buses for the operation of new route E33P, LWB temporarily borrowed three Dennis Trident buses, with fleet numbers ATR202, 231 and 238, from KMB to serve Routes E31 and S64 during the period. They were returned to KMB at the end of May 2009 when a new batch of Enviro500s entered service.
- ↑ 197 retired in 1999; 147, 182 retired in 2011; After route rationalisation in 1999, LW had a surplus of buses. To avoid wasting resources, 102, 107, 112, 123, 125, 127, 142, 143, 148, 152, 158, 159, 165, 174 were loaned to KMB from end-1999 to mid-2001 and resold to KMB at the end of 2002, with the fleet number of KMB as ATR355-368; 101, 124, 161, 163, 171, 173 were loaned to KMB from late 1999 to mid-2001 and were returned to LWB from 2002 to 2005; in order to solve the problem of insufficient KMB buses in the long run, 105, 121, 126, 133, 135, 137, 139, 141, 145-146, 151, 167, 176, 180, 191, 200, 203, 212-214 were resold to KMB in late 2009 and mid 2010 respectively, with KMB fleet number ATR393-ATR412; 136, 138, 154, 157, 160, 166, 169, 177-178, 190, 205, 217-218, 220, 222 were resold to KMB in 2011, with KMB fleet numbers ATR413-ATR427; 106, 113, 119, 122, 124, 130, 149, 161, 163, 173, 179, 195, 209, 216, 221 were resold to KMB in 2012, with KMB fleet number ATR428-ATR442; 101, 103, 104, 108, 109 resold to KMB in 2013, KMB fleet number ATR443-447; 111, 115-118, 120, 128, 129, 131, 132, 134, 140, 150, 155, 168, 172, 175, 181, 183-188, 198, 201, 202, 204, 207, 208, 210, 215, 225 were resold to KMB in 2014, with the KMB fleet number ATR448-480; 110, 114, 170, 171, 189, 192-194, 196, 199, 206, 211, 219, 223, 224 resold to KMB in 2015, KMB fleet number ATR481-495; 110, 114, 146, 170, 171, 189, 192-194, 196, 199, 206, 211, 219, 223-224 remained in operation at RoadShow after the resale of KMB. The remaining 144, 153, 156, 162 and 164 which were not resold to KMB continued to serve LW until May 2016 when they were retired due to reaching the 18-year age limit.
- ↑ The original KMB AN14, 15, 17-24 were sold to Long Win in 1998; 909 was bought back by KMB in 2002 and continued to use the AN23 fleet numbering.
- ↑ Loaned to KMB in September 2020 and resold to KMB at the end of the same year with KMB fleet number AVBE87-94. 703 and 705 resold to KMB in January 2022 with KMB fleet number AVBE95-96.
- ↑ 8401, 8403, 8405-8409, 8411-8413, 8415, 8423, 8427, 8429 were loaned to KMB in May and September 2020 and resold to KMB at the end of the same year with the KMB fleet numbered ATEU37-50; and 8402, 8404, 8410, 8414, 8421, 8422, 8424-8426, 8428, 8430-8432 were resold to KMB from June 2021 to January 2022 with the KMB fleet numbered ATEU51-63.
- ↑ 8501 resold to KMB in May 2021 with KMB fleet number ATEE6; 8502-8536 resold to KMB from September 2021 to January 2022 with KMB fleet numbers ATEE7-41
- ↑ 9501-9516 were loaned to KMB in May and September 2020 and resold to KMB at the end of the same year, with KMB fleet numbered ATENU1653-1668; 9517-9547 were resold to KMB from June to September 2021, with KMB fleet numbered ATENU1669-1699
- ↑ Resold to KMB in August-September 2021 with KMB fleet number E5T1-26
External Links[]
- LWB Official Website (redirected to KMB Website)
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Long Win Bus Company Limited, Long Win, LWB, Long Win Airbus and Long Win Airport Bus