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Kai Tak Hospital will open in phases starting October 5 to replace Queen Elizabeth Hospital as the Kowloon Central Cluster's flagship hospital, but its relatively remote location has raised concerns about transport access for patients.
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Located on Shing Cheong Road, the new hospital is set to become the city’s largest public hospital and serve residents across Yau Tsim Mong, Kowloon City, Wong Tai Sin and Kwun Tong. However, its waterfront setting has also prompted anxiety among visitors about connectivity and potentially long journey times.
In a field test carried out by reporters from Sing Tao Headline, the sister publication of The Standard, walking from MegaBox via a covered footbridge to Block 4—the specialist out-patient clinic building—took about 10 minutes.
Some early visitors touring the site ahead of their rescheduled appointments described the route as difficult. An elderly couple travelling from Mong Kok spent nearly two hours trying to reach the hospital after a 45-minute, circuitous minibus ride from Wong Tai Sin, followed by a 10-minute walk on crutches from the neighbouring Hong Kong Children’s Hospital.
They described the trip as “really inconvenient,” and called for direct bus or minibus services from Mong Kok to reduce transfers.
Yau, from Kwun Tong, brought her daughter to Hong Kong Children’s Hospital for the first time. She said she knew Kai Tak Hospital was about to open but found the location isolated. Waiting for 20 minutes for a minibus that did not arrive, she said the waterfront route was too far to walk and urged operators to increase service frequency.
Yu, who works at the Children’s Hospital and lives in Ma On Shan, said bus stops outside Kai Tak Hospital currently serve only Kowloon destinations. She added that travellers heading to the New Territories would need to walk to MegaBox, and that special services run only on weekdays. On weekends or outside service hours, passengers would have to transfer at Ngau Tau Kok.
Yu said elderly patients and those with mobility limitations would find the stairs and the footbridge walk from MegaBox challenging unless dedicated shuttle buses are arranged. She noted that even for her, the walk takes more than 10 minutes.
The Hospital Authority said Kai Tak Hospital will be served by 10 franchised bus routes and six minibus routes connecting to districts and nearby MTR stations, including Kai Tak, Kowloon Bay, Sung Wong Toi, To Kwa Wan, Wong Tai Sin, Ngau Tau Kok, Kwun Tong and Yau Tong.
It added that five MTR stations provide direct feeder connections, such as Citybus 22S from Kai Tak Station and minibus 86 from Kowloon Bay Station. More than 40 additional bus and minibus routes will stop along Kai Fuk Road and the Zero Carbon Park area.
To support patients with disabilities or reduced mobility, Rehabus will introduce dedicated shuttle services linking Kai Tak Hospital with Kai Tak and Lok Fu MTR stations starting October 5.
