By Matt Burdett, 13 February 2019

On this page, we look at Hong Kong as a case study of infrastructure growth over time in one city. This page is part of a series on Hong Kong’s infrastructure that includes international links, transport, telecommunications, energy and water and sanitation.

Mong Kok, Hong Kong. Hong Kong’s minibus system is divided into red and green; red minibuses have fewer regulations.

Transport in Hong Kong

Hong Kong’s public transport system is regarded as one of the world’s most successful, from both an economic and passenger perspective. Although frequently crowded, services are punctual and low cost. Each day, 12.7 million passenger journeys are made by public transport.

Mass Transit Rail: The MTR

The Hong Kong MTR map, including future projects. Source: Xavier114fch, 2014.

The MTR is a system of underground railways (like the London Underground and the New York Subway). The first line opened in 1979 (Springer, 2016) and continues to grow, with a length of 231km (GovHK, 2019) and new lines, extensions and stations constantly under construction. It is very efficient, with trains running on-time for 99.9% of the time (Kuo, 2018).

The growth in the number of lines has been steady since 1979. Reasons for growth include the difficulty of building above-ground transport routes – Hong Kong is a mainly mountainous region. Furthermore, the government doesn’t want to encourage private transport because the roads are already heavily congested.

Year	Lines opened (Source: GovHKb, 2018)
1979	Kwun Tong Line
1982	Tsuen Wan Line
1985	Island Line
1989	Eastern Harbour Crossing connecting Lam Tin to Quarry Bay
1998	Tung Chung Line
2002	Tseung Kwan O Line
2003	West Rail Line
2004	Ma On Shan Line
2005	Disneyland Resort Line
2007	Bifurcation of East Rail to boundary crossing at Lok Ma Chau
2009	Bifurcation of Tseung Kwan O Line to LOHAS Park Station Extension of West Rail Line to Hung Hom Station interchanging with East Rail Line Bifurcation of Tseung Kwan O Line to LOHAS Park Station
2014	Extension of Island Line to Kennedy Town Station
2016	Extension of Kwun Tong Line to Whampoa Station South Island Line
Under construction*	Shatin to Central Link *At time of writing

Road transport: tunnels

Highways create a high-speed road system around the main urban areas, but Hong Kong has a very coastal and mountainous environment which makes it very difficult to build roads connecting places. Hong Kong has therefore built tunnels through mountains and under the harbour, and also built enormous bridges to connect the city with the airport.

The cross-harbour tunnels that link Hong Kong Island with Kowloon are not actually cut through the rock under the sea, but ‘immersed tube’ designs, as shown in the photograph below. These sections of tunnel are built above ground, then floated into position on the surface of the water before being sunk. When they are securely on the seabed, they are connected together forming a long tube through which vehicles can drive.

Immersed tunnel sections awaiting transportation and sinking. Source: Thomas, 2017

There are 16 road tunnels in Hong Kong. (Source: GovHK, 2018)

Name of feature	Year opened	Further detail
Lion Rock Tunnel	1967	North Kowloon to Sha Tin 92 300 vehicles daily
Aberdeen Tunnel	1982	60 100 vehicles daily
Kai Tak Tunnel	1982	Kowloon to Kwun Tong 53 100 vehicles per day
Shing Mun Tunnels	1990	Tsuen Wan to Sha Tin 54 200 vehicles
Tseung Kwan O Tunnel	1990	Kwun Tong and Tseung Kwan O New Town 92 800 vehicles per day
Cheung Tsing Tunnel	1997	West Kowloon with Lantau
Cross-Harbour Tunnel	1972	113 800 vehicles daily
Eastern Harbour Crossing	1989	77 200 vehicles daily
Tate’s Cairn Tunnel	1991	60 800 vehicles daily
Western Harbour Crossing	1997	67 600 vehicles daily
Tai Lam Tunnel	1998	60 700 vehicles daily
Discovery Bay Tunnel Link	2000	2 300 vehicles daily
Tai Wai Tunnel, Sha Tin Heights Tunnel, Eagle’s Nest Tunnel (and Nam Wan Tunnel*)	2008 (*2009)	57 400 vehicles daily

Other transport: trams, ferries and buses

Hong Kong has several light-rail systems, mainly in the New Territories where they serve the population of new towns. As well as the Peak Tram (which is really a tourist attraction, as it carries people up to the Peak above the Central Business District), one of the most famous of the trams is the line running along the northern side of Hong Kong Island. This tram system has been in operation since 1904. It is 16km long and carries over 170,000 passengers per day. (GovHK, 2019.) There have been no extensions to the tram system and it has occasionally been threatened with closure. With only one track in each direction, trams are subject to ‘bunching’. This means that trams become stuck in a queue as they cannot overtake one another. Furthermore, the trams share the roads with regular traffic which makes some people feel they are taking up space that could be used more efficiently (Poon, 2015). However, there is a strong love for the tram amongst many Hong Kongers and the threat of closure seems to have abated.

Ferries are another iconic means of transport in Hong Kong. Many people live on outlying islands such as Lamma and Cheung Chau, which are only accessible by ferry. The most famous ferry service is the Star Ferry established in 1898, which runs two routes across Hong Kong’s Victoria Harbour.

Bus routes have also been developed and carry millions of passengers a day. The Hong Kong government provides licences to bus companies which all use an integrated payment method (along with the MTR) called the Octopus system.The KMB bus company carries 2.76 million passengers per day; the New World First Bus company carries 454000; and the Citybus company carries 502000. (Source: GovHK, 2018)

There is also an extensive system of minibuses (shown in the photograph at the top of this page). These small buses usually carry no more than 16 people and are popular because they can travel up the narrow and steep streets of Hong Kong.

An integrated payment system: Octopus

One of the secrets of Hong Kong’s successful transport system is the Octopus card. Hong Kong was the first city in the world to introduce an integrated means of payment for all public transport (ferries, trams, buses and MTR) in 1997 (Octopus, 2019). This type of payment card is now common in many cities. Passengers add money to a card which is then tapped against a card reader at the point of entry and exit from public transport. In Hong Kong, the system has expanded to be a commonly used form of payment in many shops, so 95% of the population carry an Octopus card (Szuc, 2008) and it has moved the city towards being a truly cashless society. One of the main benefits is that it is speeds up transactions which reduces transport delays.

Sources

GovHK, 2018. Transport. Hong Kong: The Facts. https://www.gov.hk/en/about/abouthk/factsheets/docs/transport.pdf Accessed 26 January 2019.

GovHKb, 2018. Railway Network. Hong Kong: The Facts. https://www.gov.hk/en/about/abouthk/factsheets/docs/railway.pdf Accessed 26 January 2019.

Kuo, 2018. Hong Kong train network suffers its worst ever delay – a six-hour signal failure. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/oct/17/hong-kong-train-network-suffers-its-worst-ever-delay-a-six-hour-signal-failure Accessed 27 January 2019.

Octopus, 2019. Corporate Profile: Overview. https://www.octopus.com.hk/en/corporate/about-octopus/profile/overview/index.html Accessed 9 February 2019.

Poon, 2015. Should Hong Kong Scrap Its Iconic Tramway? https://www.citylab.com/transportation/2015/10/should-hong-kong-scrap-its-iconic-tramway/411382/ Accessed 27 January 2019.

Springer, 2016. How Hong Kong’s MTR Came to Be. https://www.theloophk.com/hong-kong-city-guide-history-mtr-mass-transit-train-system/ Accessed 26 January 2019.

Szuc, 2008. A Really Smart Card: How Hong Kong’s Octopus Card moves people. http://uxpamagazine.org/really_smart_card/ Accessed 9 February 2019.

Thomas, 2017. Hong Kong’s Immersed Tube Milestone. https://tunnellingjournal.com/hong-kongs-immersed-tube-milestone/ Accessed 9 February 2019.

Xavier114fch, 2014. Planned expanded future network of the Hong Kong MTR. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Future_projects_of_the_MTR Accessed 27 January 2019.

Case study of infrastructure growth: Hong Kong: Learning activities

Questions

State the number of passengers carried by public transport each day in Hong Kong. [1]
Describe the main features of Hong Kong’s Mass Transit Railway system. Refer to statistical information in your answer. [3]
Construct a sketch graph of the expansion of the MTR between 1979 and today. [4] Note: A line graph is most appropriate as the x axis of the graph is time. The y axis should be the number of lines and line extensions.
Explain why Hong Kong requires significant road tunnels. [2]
Describe the process used to create the cross-harbour tunnels. [3]
Construct a sketch graph of the expansion of the tunnel network from 1967 to today. [4] Note: A line graph is most appropriate as the x axis of the graph is time. The y axis should be the number of tunnels.
Describe the other forms of public transport used in Hong Kong. Refer to statistics in your response. [2+2+2]
Suggest how the development of the Octopus card system has enhanced Hong Kong’s public transport infrastructure. [2+2]

Other tasks

On a blank map of Hong Kong, add the major features of infrastructure that are shown on this page. Continue to add to your map using the other pages on this site.

Going further

The MTR corporation has a unique funding method: the MTR not only runs the railways but also owns the land on which the stations are built, including the shopping malls and residential tower blocks that are built above the stations. This allows it to make enormous amounts from renting the shops and homes, which in turn allows it to spend more on developing the network. Conduct research, starting with this article, to find out more about how Hong Kong has paid for the rapid and expansive development of its MTR system.

All secondary material on this site is clearly referenced and may be subject to copyright restrictions by the original authors. All original material on this page is subject to copyright.