The Hong Kong Water Taxi (香港水上的士) Route, or Water Taxi for short, is a cross-harbour ferry and tourist route operated by Fortune Ferry. It runs circular between both sides of Victoria Harbour, and are mainly sightseeing and tourist services. Passengers can enjoy the scenery of Victoria Harbour and A Symphony of Lights during the journey.
At present, water taxis provide the following regular cross-harbour services (which have joined the Public Transport Fare Subsidy Scheme):
- Daily: Circular route between "Tsim Sha Tsui East → Wan Chai → Central → Wan Chai → Tsim Sha Tsui East";
- Saturday, Sunday and Public Holidays at morning and noon: West Kowloon circular route between "Tsim Sha Tsui East → West Kowloon → Tsim Sha Tsui East → Wan Chai → Central → Wan Chai → Tsim Sha Tsui East".
In addition, the water taxis also provide sightseeing routes:
- Daily afternoon and evening: Victoria Harbour Tour between "Tsim Sha Tsui East → Tsim Sha Tsui East".
History[]
The Government proposed in 2001 to introduce a new "water taxi" service which mainly serves sightseers. However, there were repeated delays and it was only in 2018 that operators were invited to submit Expressions of Interest (EOI) for the ferry service, and the tendering process was conducted on 13 December 2019.[1]
The Transport Department (TD) announced on 23 March 2020 that Fortune Ferry had been awarded the ferry service licence for the water taxi routes for five years[2]. The main route would have five pick-up and drop-off points at Runway Park Pier No.1 or No.2, Hung Hom South Pier, Tsim Sha Tsui Promenade Landing Facilities, Central Pier No.9, and West Kowloon Cultural District South Landing Facilities. The adult fare would be $136 for the whole journey and passengers can board and alight freely at any stops with section fares ranging from $10 to $24 per stop. The operator would provide three to four ferry services daily, including one at 7.30pm for passengers to enjoy the night view of the Victoria Harbour, and at least one short-haul service per week from Wan Chai Public Pier to Tsim Sha Tsui East via Hung Hom at 5pm. However, these short routes could not directly overlap with any existing franchised and licensed ferry services in Hong Kong.[3]
In view of the wider catchment area and the more diversified nature of water taxi services, the operator would need a longer lead time for preparatory work, and the Government expects that this ferry route will commence service before the end of 2020. Due to the outbreak of the epidemic, the commencement of the ferry service was deferred. The Government expected the operator to first try out some of the services, such as the short-haul services, in the first quarter of 2021[4]; and as the outbreak of the epidemic persisted thereafter, the trial run of the short-haul services was deferred to the second half of 2021.[5]
TD announced on 25 June 2021 that the water taxi ferry service would provide "Hung Hom ↔ Tsim Sha Tsui East ↔ Central (Circular)" short-haul service on a trial basis starting from 3 July, and that the operator would celebrate the 24th Anniversary of the Establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region with a special departure on 1 July.[6][7]
- 1 July 2021: A special sailing was provided by the operator on that night.
- 3 July 2021: Entered service on a trial basis, with short-working sailings provided on Saturdays running circular between Hung Hom, Tsim Sha Tsui East and Central, departing from Hung Hom South Pier at 7:20pm and stopping intermediately at Tsim Sha Tsui Landing No.1 at the promenade outside Avenue of Stars at Tsim Sha Tsui East.
- 1 October 2021: A special departure was provided on that day starting from Tsim Sha Tsui East and turning back at Central after stopping at Art Park West Kowloon Cultural District.[8]
- 14 November 2021: Short-working services running between "Central - West Kowloon - Tsim Sha Tsui East - Central" and "Central - Tsim Sha Tsui East" were introduced.[9][10]
- To cope with the transport demand on the opening day of the M+ Museum in WKCD on 12 November, two special trips on "Central- West Kowloon - Tsim Sha Tsui East - Central" service were also provided on that day.[11]
- 29 January to 20 May 2022: Service was suspended due to the novel coronavirus pneumonia pandemic.
- Experimental service was resumed from 21 May but other services remained suspended.
- 29 May 2022: A new Central - Tai O service was introduced, departing at 09:30 from Central Pier No.9 and at 16:15 from Tai O every Sundays.[12]
- This service was implemented on a trial basis as early as 13 June 2021 but only members of co-operating travel agencies were allowed to travel.[13]
- 1 October 2022: A special Tsim Sha Tsui East to Tung Lung Island service was introduced, departing from Tsim Sha Tsui East to Tung Lung Chau North Ferry Pier at 09:50, 10:20, 11:30, 12:00, and departing from Tung Lung Chau North Ferry Pier to Tsim Sha Tsui East at 14:40, 15:30, 16:20, 17:10 on the same day.[14][15]
- 14 January 2023: A new short-haul route "East Tsim Sha Tsui - Wan Chai - Central - West Kowloon - Central - Wan Chai - East Tsim Sha Tsui" on Saturdays was introduced, with daily service provided from 22 January to 5 February.[16][17]
Historical route information[]
Details of the past service hours and headways, fares and other route information of this route are set out in the "Historical route information" sub-page of this article.
Timetable[]
Passengers can embark and disembark at any pier.
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- Bold with * departureadopt deluxe ferry
Fares[]
Cross-harbour route[]
| Daily | Child | ||||||
| Elderly and Disabilities(Cash) | |||||||
| Adult | Tsim Sha Tsui East | $15.0 | $15.0 | $30.0 | $30.0 | $50.0 | $50.0 |
| $30.0 | West Kowloon Cultural District | $15.0 | $15.0 | $30.0 | $30.0 | $50.0 | |
| $30.0 | $30.0 | Tsim Sha Tsui East | $15.0 | $15.0 | $30.0 | $30.0 | |
| $60.0 | $30.0 | $30.0 | Wan Chai | $15.0 | $15.0 | $30.0 | |
| $60.0 | $60.0 | $30.0 | $30.0 | Central | $15.0 | $15.0 | |
| $100.0 | $60.0 | $60.0 | $30.0 | $30.0 | Wan Chai | $15.0 | |
| $100.0 | $100.0 | $60.0 | $60.0 | $30.0 | $30.0 | Tsim Sha Tsui East | |
Goods fares[]
| Goods fares | Goods (each 0.1 cubic metre) |
Bicycles |
|---|---|---|
| Applicable to all short-working sailings | $20.0 | $14.0 |
| Fare remarks |
|---|
|
Tourist route (Victoria Harbour Tour)[]
| Departure time | Adult fare | Child fare |
|---|---|---|
| 15:00-18:59 | $150.0 | $100.0 |
| 19:00-20:29 | $220.0 | $160.0 |
| 20:30-21:59 | $180.0 | $130.0 |
| Fare remarks |
|---|
|
Fleet[]
Ridership[]
Gallery[]
Related articles[]
Tourist routes[]
- Oriental Pearl Harbour Cruise
- Star Ferry's Harbour Tour
- Star Ferry's Water Tour
- Harbour Cruise - Bahuinia
- aqualuna
Ferry routes[]
Notes and References[]
- ↑ TD invites tenders for operation of "Central-Hung Hom" and "water taxi" licensed ferry services, Government Press Release, 13 December 2019.
- ↑ TD announces tender results for "Central - Hung Hom" and "water taxi" ferry services, Government Press Release, 23 March 2020.
- ↑ Introducing the “Central – Hung Hom” ferry and “water taxi” services, Legislative Council Panel on Transport, 15 May 2020.
- ↑ 港府救旅業得把口 水上的士臨門押後 (Only words for saving HK tourism: commencement of Water Taxi delayed upon deadline), Oriental Daily News, 20 October 2020.
- ↑ 武漢肺炎︱水上的士最快下半年啟航遲足半年 (COVID-19 | Water Taxi to launch 2nd half next year, 6mths later than scheduled), Apple Daily, 12 March 2021.
- ↑ Water taxi to set sail in July, news.gov.hk, 25 June 2021.
- ↑ "Water taxi" ferry service to operate trial short-working route service from July, HKSAR Government Press Release, 25 June 2021.
- ↑ [1] (Link broken)
- ↑ “Water Taxi” Licensed Ferry Service Trial Launch of “Central – West Kowloon – Tsim Sha Tsui East – Central” Short-working Route [Traffic Advice], Transport Department HKSARG, 5 November 2021.
- ↑ 水上的士試辦「中環－西九－尖東－中環」短途航線 (Water Taxi launches "Central – West Kowloon – Tsim Sha Tsui East – Central" short-working service), hkitalk.net.
- ↑ Public transport arrangements for opening of M+ museum [News Release], Transport Department HKSARG, 11 November 2021.
- ↑ [2]
- ↑ [3]
- ↑ [4]
- ↑ [5]
- ↑ [6]
- ↑ [7]
External links[]
| Star Ferry | |
|---|---|
| Sun Ferry | |
| Fortune Ferry | |
| Coral Sea Ferry | |
| Outlying Island Route • Kaito Route • Cross-Border Route | |