PITCL Park Island - Central Route

A vessel on this route was arriving at Park Island Ferry Pier (September 2020)
Route information
Termini	Park Island↔Central Pier No.2
Travelling time	22mins
Operational information
Current operator	Park Island Transport
Fare information
Full fare	Resident: $24.1 Visitor: $36.0
Service hours
Service hours (origin)	Weekdays: 06:30-23:00 Holidays: 07:00-23:00
Service hours (terminus)	Weekdays: 07:00-23:30 Holidays: 07:30-23:30
Headways	20-60mins

PITCL Park Island - Central Route is an outlying lsland route operated by PITCL running between Park Island Ferry Pier and Central Pier No.2.

History

• 11 December 2002: This route entered service.
• 27 June 2008: To facilitate maintenance work at the Park Island Ferry Pier, overnight services were suspended from midnight on that day and replaced by the Residents' Bus Route NR338 for a period of six months. After completion of the pier works, the above arrangement remained in place, effectively cancelling overnight services permanently.
• 8 June 2013: PITCL Park Island - Tsuen Wan Route resumed service, and the frequency of services on this route were adjusted from every 30 minutes to every hour during non-peak hours on weekdays, Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays.
• 14 September 2014: Fares were increased.
• 8 May 2016: Fares were increased.
• 17 to 21 February 2020: To reserve more time for compartment cleaning works, some sailings on Mondays to Fridays were replaced by Residents' Bus Route NR338.
  • However, due to the relatively low capacity of the buses and the statutory restriction on passengers bringing pets on buses, the arrangement resulted in objections from residents of Park Island and District Council members and it was only maintained for a week.
• 24 February 2020: Morning peak hour frequencies on weekdays were temporarily reduced due to the novel coronavirus pandemic with temporary services on Residents' Bus Route NR338 cancelled at the same time.
• 1 May 2020: The Passenger Service Licence (PSL) of replacement service NR338 expired on 30 April and its service was ceased.
• 30 April 2021: Morning peak hour frequencies on weekdays were reduced to 20-minute intervals, and the replacement service NR338 resumed service at midnight the next day.
• 5 March 2023: Fares were increased.
• 17 August 2025: Non-peak hour and holiday frequencies were reduced to 2-hour intervals and the last sailing time was advanced.
  • Part of its services were replaced by Residents' Bus Route NR338S.

Timetable

Template:Updated headway

From Park Island Hour Minute Mondays to Saturdays 06 30 07 - 09 00, 20, 40 10 - 16 00 17 - 20 00, 30 21 - 23 00 Sundays and Public Holidays 07 - 23 00

From Central Hour Minute Mondays to Saturdays 07 00, 30, 50 08 - 09 10, 30, 50 10 10, 30 11 - 17 30 18 - 21 00, 30 22 - 23 30 Sundays and Public Holidays 07 - 23 30

• Seats are available on a first-come-first-served basis, passengers please wait for the next sailing when the current sailing is full.

Remarks
The times listed above are pier closing times (except when ferry tickets are sold out in advance).

• Passengers may use Residents' Bus Route NR338S (daytime) or Residents' Bus Route NR338 (overnight) outside of service hours of this route.
• In the event that a number of ferries need to carry out mechanical repairs or have breakdowns resulting in failure of the routes to operate normally, the affected ferry schedules may be replaced by bus services.

Edit	PITCL Park Island ↔ Central
Park Island ↔ Central

Fare chart

Fast Ferry	Park Island residents		Visitor
	Registered Octopus	Cash	Cash/Octopus
Adult	$24.1	$36.0
Children	$12.1	$18.0
Elderly and eligible persons with disabilities (Personalised Octopus Cards with "Persons with Disabilities" status, JoyYou Card)	$2.0	Not applicable	$2.0

Fare remarks

This route has adult and concessionary fares (Child and Senior) and the fare payable is as shown above. Children aged 1 to 11 can enjoy half-fare concession/fare discount. Babies aged 0 can enjoy free travel concession. Elderly aged 65 or above can enjoy half-fare concession/fare discount. Hong Kong residents aged 60 or above using JoyYou Card, as well as eligible persons with disabilities aged less than 60 paying the fare with their "Persons with Disabilities" personalised Octopus card can enjoy a flat concessionary fare of $2.0; beneficiaries aged 65 or above will only need to pay the original concessionary fare if the concessionary fare after half-price discount of the regular fare for senior citizens or eligible persons with disabilities is less than $2.0. If the original full fare for Hong Kong residents aged between 60 and 64 is already below $2.0, the beneficiary only needs to pay the original full fare. This route has joined the Public Transport Fare Subsidy Scheme, in which passengers paying their fare by Octopus cards will be included in the calculation of the subsidy. Passengers should tender fare by cash or by Octopus card at the pier or upon embarkation. No change will be given. This route has resident and non-resident fares.

Octopus interchange concessions

Passengers using the same Octopus card to interchange between this route and designated modes of transport within a specified time period will receive interchange concessions as follows:

Interchange concessions between PITCL Park Island - Central Route and buses
First leg	Second leg	Discounted fare	Interchange location	Time limit	Remarks
Park Island - Central ferry/ Park Island - Tsuen Wan ferry	NR330/NR332/NR334 (to Tsing Yi/Kwai Fong/Airport, alighting before Beach Commercial Complex)	$2.0 (equivalent to bus fare waiver)	Tung Wan Pier → Park Island Bus Terminus	120mins	Concession is only applicable to passengers paying intra-island section fares Ma Wan residents and visitors may also enjoy concessions
NR330/NR332/NR334 (to Park Island, boarding at stops from Beach Commercial Complex)	Park Island - Central ferry/ Park Island - Tsuen Wan ferry		Park Island Bus Terminus → Tung Wan Pier

Fleets

There are only 4 vessels in the PITCL fleet, and are all deployed on Central ferry services during peak hours.

Ridership

According to the property sales agreement for Park Island, the developer must provide services on this route, which mainly serves residents and visitors travelling between Central and Park Island. As residents are accustomed to taking the resident bus to Tsing Yi or Kwai Fong to interchange to other modes of transport, passenger numbers are very low at all times except during peak commuting hours.

This route originally operated 24 hours a day. However, starting from 27 July 2008, to accommodate maintenance work at the Park Island Ferry Pier, the overnight service on this route was replaced by the Template:H from midnight on the same day. The arrangement was originally scheduled to last for six months, but it remained in place even after the completion of the maintenance work, likely due to efforts to reduce operational costs. Additionally, due to low passenger numbers, the bus route was temporarily suspended from 1 May 2020 to 30 April 2021.

• 2009: The daily average amount of passengers was 3,829.
• 2015: The daily average amount of passengers was 3,039.
• July 2018: PITCL stated that the average passenger amount during non-peak hours was 58, with individual sailings only carrying 8 passengers. Meanwhile, PITCL also stated in the Tsuen Wan District Council that the maximum occupancy rate of Central ferry route during peak hours was only 60%.

In addition, PITCL and District Council members hoped that this route would be included in the special assistance measures for outlying island routes. The government decided on 28 May 2019 not to accept the proposal, as the route is not operated by a government-tendered contractor and the developer had already committed to providing ferry services for residents when developing Park Island, therefore coordination with residents should be sought and public funds should not be used to cover the costs if there were operational pressures at that time.

On 16 October 2019, Chief Executive Carrie Lam delivered the Policy Address, announcing the expansion of special assistance measures to eight additional outlying island ferry routes. The annual subsidy expenditure for the 14 routes amounts to approximately 260 million HKD. Additionally, the government will implement a two-phase plan over the next decade starting in 2021 to fully upgrade the fleets of 11 ferry routes and adopt more environmentally friendly vessels. This initiative was expected to involve the procurement of 47 new vessels, aiming to enhance service quality and promote environmental sustainability.

In March 2021, the Transport Department submitted a document to the Transport and Transportation Committee of the Tsuen Wan District Council, stating that due to the impact of the novel coronavirus pandemic, the route had been operating at a loss for an extended period, primarily due to rising operational costs such as staff expenses and maintenance costs. The operator applied to the Transport Department in December 2020 for a formal adjustment to the service schedule of this route, aiming to improve operational efficiency and reduce operational costs, in order to continue providing appropriate and sustainable ferry services. The changes took effect on 30 April 2021.

• 2020: The average amount of passengers was 2,471 per day.
• 2021: The average amount of passengers was 2,597 per day.
• 2022: The average amount of passengers was 2,045 per day.
• January to 18 February 2024: The occupancy rate during 7am - 10am on Mondays to Fridays (except public holidays) for sailings towards Central was 7% - 79%.

PITCL continued to reduce services on this route despite so. In 2025, PITCL even proposed reducing ferry services to a two-hourly interval for most periods, replacing the remaining services with buses. The company bypassed consultation with the Owners' Committee and submitted the application directly to the Transport Department. Subsequently, the Transport Department conducted a consultation on the Ma Wan ferry service adjustment proposal. District councillors expressed that significantly reducing ferry services, which were vital to the commutes of Ma Wan residents, would cause travel difficulties for them and received quite a number of dissenting views. The Transport Department stated it understood that there was a certain demand for the ferry service from resident and would follow up with PITCL regarding the feedback.

The consultation period concluded on 30 May 2025. District Councillor Marcella Cheung (張文嘉) noted that a questionnaire survey conducted during the consultation period revealed an overall opposition rate of 94% to the proposed ferry service reductions. She stated that the changes would severely impact residents' commuting needs, that repeated service reductions were unacceptable, and that the changes would affect passengers travelling with pets, wheelchair users, those with pushchairs, and individuals transporting large items. During traffic congestion on the Tsing Ma Bridge, traffic accidents, and extreme weather conditions, residents would lose a reliable transport option. Cheung further argued that the surge in visitors since Ma Wan 1868's opening renders ferry service reductions contrary to the government's ideal of "tourism is everywhere". She criticised Sun Hung Kai Properties for reneging on its original sales commitments by progressively scaling back ferry services, even suggesting government intervention to improve service quality and introduce alternative operators to compete with PITCL. However, the Transport Department responded that it would undertake appropriate optimisation and revisions to the original proposal. This aims to accommodate residents' travel needs for specific sailings while assisting the operator in optimising existing ferry resources to ensure service sustainability; PITCL also agreed to further examine the schedule adjustment issues.

Despite strong opposition from residents and District Council members, PITCL proceeded with the service modification plan. On 4 August 2025, it launched the Residents' Bus Route NR338S as a preparatory measure to replace some ferry sailings. On 10 August, at a meeting of the Owners' Committee, Park Island Transport announced the full implementation of the new ferry service arrangements on 17 August, formally launching the bus route as the replacement for some ferry sailings. Residents criticised the 45-minute bus journey, contrasting it with the mere 23-minute ferry crossing, arguing it severely impacted commuting and diminished quality of life. Two days later, the Park Island Owners' Committee wrote to government departments, criticising the changes for disregarding residents' demands, undermining their right to travel, and accusing the Transport Department of ignoring clear and compelling investigative data from District Council members; they further condemned the Department for permitting licensed transport operators to override public interests in implementing service alterations.

Gallery

More pictures, photos and related information about this article are available in the following Gallery Page:

PITCL Park Island - Central Route(Edit)

Related articles

EBTHK article:

Residents' Bus Route NR338

EBTHK article:

Residents' Bus Route NR338S

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