Two more special bus routes to ease way for cruise passengers

Two more special bus routes will open on Saturday to take more than 3,000 visitors on the Spectrum of the Seas cruise ship to Kwun Tong and Tsim Sha Tsui.

Spectrum of the Seas is set to arrive in Hong Kong with its 4,500 passengers from Kagoshima, Japan. About 1,100 passengers will take part in activities by the cruise line, while the remaining 3,400 are expected to use public transport to get around Hong Kong.

This comes as the deputy chief secretary for administration, Cheuk Wing-hing, held the second cross-departmental meeting on improving transport arrangements at Kai Tak Cruise Terminal.

Officials from the Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau, the Transport and Logistics Bureau, the Tourism Commission, the Transport Department and the Tourism Board and the operator of the terminal were at the meeting.

They reviewed the arrangements made for the three cruises that docked in Hong Kong last week, and discussed how to further improve arrangements for Spectrum of the Seas, whose passengers are expected to leave the ship in groups.

As well as the Citybus route 22R heading to Kai Tak MTR Station launched last Wednesday, new bus route 20R will connect the cruise terminal with Tsim Sha Tsui, while route 25R will go to APM mall in Kwun Tong. Both new routes are operated by Citybus.

The service of 25R will run every 10 minutes from 7.15am to 10.15am, and every 15 minutes from 2pm to 4.30pm.

The two combined routes can take 900 passengers in 30 minutes.

The three free shuttle buses will also have enhanced service, taking 250 passengers every half hour. The shuttle going to Admiralty and the Peak Tram station remains unchanged, but the original Tsim Sha Tsui route will no longer go to Tsim Sha Tsui - only to West Kowloon Cultural District and Kowloon MTR Station instead - as 20R will cover Tsim Sha Tsui.

Taxi drivers will continue to be given HK$50 petrol coupons by taking passengers at the cruise terminal.

A government spokesman said: "After government interventions over the last week, passengers were able to leave the Kai Tak Cruise Terminal smoothly, and most passengers expressed satisfaction with the experience.

"The government had always valued cruise passengers' experience in Hong Kong. Cruise terminal operators should communicate with cruise companies and travel agents to make proper plans and arrangements for each docking cruise."

The Tourism Commission will help and monitor the implementations and results of the arrangements.

Cruise passengers have complained of long waits at the terminal for a taxi because of a road closure.

lorraine.chiang@singtaonewscorp.com