I’ve covered the big range of MTR branded souvenirs for sale before, along with models of Hong Kong buses, but on my last trip to Hong Kong I found something new – road signs. I found them at the ‘Elegant Tang Dynasty’ gift shop located at the exit from the Peak Tram station at Victoria Peak. And as well as road signs, they had a multi-coloured selection of MTR station sign magnets. So I spent up big – the small magnets being priced at seven for HK$100, with the larger road sign costing a little extra. I also found a second ‘Elegant Tang Dynasty’ store on Peking Road in Tsim Sha Tsui, just ..read more

As you travel across the Hong Kong MTR, you’ll find stations of all colours. Red. Blue. Pink. Yellow. Green. Grey. Brown. Purple. And rainbow. The reason? The South China Morning Post talked to the MTR Corporation’s chief architect to find out. The main reason bright colours were adopted when the first line opened in the 1970s was to lighten up the subway system, according to Andrew Mead, the MTR Corporation’s chief architect. With no windows or natural light, underground platforms can be gloomy. Bright colours are associated with beauty, and they bring a dash of that to the mostly s ..read more

It has been five years since my last visit to Hong Kong, and in that time there has been a number of changes to local transport. Trains The Sha Tin to Central Link project is finally complete, with new Hyundai Rotem EMUs running on an extended East Rail line under Victoria Harbour to Admiralty. And the Ma On Shan and West Rail lines have been merged into the Tuen Ma line, with new CRRC Changchun EMUs running on the line along with existing SP1900 sets. CKD0A diesel-electric locomotives have taken over on East Rail line works trains. With retired MTR diesel-electric locomotives #62, #58 and ..read more

February 2024 saw me finally return to Hong Kong, and this time with two young kids in tow! As with my previous visits, it’s been a mix of a few places I’ve been to before but wanted to share with kids, some new places we’d never ever been to, as well as my usual side trips to see trains – including railway lines that didn’t exist on our last visit. Day 1: arrival and airport bus to Kowloon. Day 2: Tsim Sha Tsui, Wong Tai Sin and Kowloon City, and a late night exploration of the MTR East Rail to Sha Tin Racecourse. Day 3: Bus through New Territories to the closed town of Sha Tau Kok, and hom ..read more

Bright red Toyota Crown taxis are an icon of Hong Kong, so why would one be cruising around the streets of the Gold Coast in Australia? SBS News photo SBS News has the backstory. One wouldn’t bat an eyelid if they saw a red Toyota Crown taxi in Hong Kong and the iconic vehicle can now be spotted in Australia thanks to the handywork of one homesick Hongkonger living on the Gold Coast. Sampson Wong, who migrated 25 years ago, said it took him under five days to convert the Toyota Crown into a “taxi” and considered himself “lucky” for finding the model for sale online in Japan. “It feels very f ..read more

There are many interchange stations on Hong Kong’s MTR and most offer a convenient connection between trains, but there is one notable exception – that between the Tuen Ma and Tsuen Wan lines at Mei Foo. We start our journey on the southbound Tuen Ma line platform. Head up the escalators. To the concourse. Then along the first transfer passageway. Passing a long row of shops. Now for a second set of escalators. Down this time. We’re back at ground level and exit ‘D’, but we still have further to go. The walls turn from white to blue as the third set of escalators take us underground ..read more

This is the story of a Hong Kong MTR exit – Exit A1 at Tsim Sha Tsui station. December 1979: grand opening of the new station. Information Services Department Reference No.: TA(2)1033 July 2009: much the same. Photo by GABell, via Wikimedia Commons December 2013: building a temporary exit alongside. January 2016: the exit is now a giant glass cube. Photo by Exploringlife, via Wikimedia Commons May 2016: finished! Photo by Exploringlife, via Wikimedia Commons The story behind the upgrade From a MTR press release dated January 2014. From tomorrow (16 January 2014), regular users of Entr ..read more

I’ve come across photos of many oddball KCR train consists over the years, such as a ‘mixed’ KCR Metro Cammell train , but this one takes the cake – an original ‘Yellow Head’ train towing a double deck KTT carriage. The photo was posted with no context over at the discuss.com.hk forums, and a reverse image search hasn’t brought up the original source of the image The crossover between the two types of train was quite short – the KCR Metro Cammell EMUs were refurbished between 1996 and 1999, while the KTT train set arrived in Hong Kong in 1997. But why was an EMU coupled up to a single KTT car ..read more

Over on Bilibili I found something interesting dating back to 1999 – a video by Alstom covering the refurbishment of the KCR Metro Cammell EMU fleet. Here is a quick synopsis: 00:00: Introduction to Hong Kong 00:40: Introduction to the East Rail Line 02:00: Decision made to refurbish the trains 02:40: overview of refurbishment program 03:00: removal of unused intermediate driving cabs 03:30: increased passenger capacity 04:00: additional saloon doors 04:50: upgraded interiors, ventilation, passenger information screens 06:00: camshaft traction equipment replaced by thyristor system, new coup ..read more

‘Checkerboard Hill’ and the runway lights atop the Kowloon City rooftops were well known features along the approach to the former Kai Tak Airport in Hong Kong. But they weren’t the only lights guiding planes across Kowloon and onto runway 13 – there was an illuminated warning beacon atop a hill in Sham Shui Po. Screencap from 1990 film ‘My Hero’ Garden Hill (Chinese: 喃嘸山) is a 90 metre high hill to the west of Kai Tak Airport in Sham Shui Po. Google Maps The hill was named for the Garden Bakery factory below, located at the intersection of Castle Peak Road and Tai Po Road. Photo by Wueifod ..read more