Hong Kong and Macau_ City Guide (Lonely Planet, 14th Edition) - Andrew Stone [213]
You may have some trouble hailing a taxi during rush hour, when it rains or during the driver shift-change period (around 4pm daily). Taxis are also in higher demand after midnight. There are no extra late-night charges and no extra passenger charges, though some taxis are insured to carry four passengers and some five. You can tell by glancing at the licence plate.
Some taxi drivers speak English well; others don’t know a word of the language. It’s never a bad idea to have your destination written down in Chinese.
Though most Hong Kong taxi drivers are scrupulously honest, if you feel you’ve been ripped off, take down the taxi or driver’s licence number (usually displayed on the sun visor in front) and call the Transport Complaints Unit hotline ( 2889 9999), the police report hotline ( 2527 7177) or the Transport Department hotline ( 2804 2600) to lodge a complaint. Be sure to have all the relevant details: when, where and how much. If you leave something behind in a taxi, ring the Road Co-op Lost & Found hotline ( 187 2920); most drivers turn in lost property.
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TRAIN
The Mass Transit Railway (MTR; 2881 8888; www.mtr.com.hk) is the name for Hong Kong’s rail system comprising underground, overland and light rail (slower tram-style) services. Universally known as the ‘MTR’, it is a phenomenon of modern urban public transport. Sleek, pristine and alwayson time, it is also rather soulless.
Though it costs more than bus travel in Hong Kong, the MTR is the quickest way to get to most destinations in the urban areas, and in fact it is sensational value by Western standards.
Should you leave something behind on the MTR, you can contact the lost property office ( 2861 0020; 8am-8pm) at Admiralty MTR station.
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Underground Lines
The core of the MTR network comprises seven largely underground lines, including the Airport Express and the new Disneyland Resort line. It serves 53 stations and carries 2.3 million passengers a day. Trains run every two to 12 minutes from around 6am to sometime between 12.30am and 1am.
The Island line (blue) extends along the northern coast of Hong Kong Island, from Sheung Wan in the west to Chai Wan in the east. The Tsuen Wan line (red) runs from Central station and travels alongside the Island line as far as Admiralty, where it crosses the harbour and runs through central Kowloon, terminating at Tsuen Wan in the New Territories.
The Kwun Tong line (green), which begins at Yau Ma Tei, shares that and two subsequent stations with the Tsuen Wan line; at Prince Edward it branches off and heads for eastern Kowloon, crossing the MTR East Rail line at Kowloon Tong before joining the Tseung Kwan O line at Yau Tong and terminating at Tiu Keng Leng in the southeastern New Territories.
The Tseung Kwan O line (purple) starts at North Point and hits Quarry Bay before crossing the eastern harbour and terminating at Po Lam in the southeastern New Territories. The Tung Chung line (orange) shares the same rail lines as the Airport Express, but stops at two additional stations in Kowloon (Kowloon and Olympic) along the way. It terminates at Tung Chung, a New Town on Lantau that offers cheaper transport options to and from the airport.
The MTR connects with the overland ser-vices of the MTR East Rail line at Tsim Sha Tsui and Kowloon Tong stations. It meets the MTR West Rail line at Nam Cheong and Mei Foo.
For short hauls, the MTR is pricey. If you want to cross the harbour from Tsim Sha Tsui to Central, for example, at $8.50/4 per adult/child (or $7.70/3.90 with an Octopus card) the MTR is more than four times the price of the Star Ferry, with none of the views, and the journey is only marginally faster. If your destination is further away – North Point, say, or Kwun Tong – the MTR is considerably faster than a bus or minibus and about the same price. If possible, it’s best to avoid the rush hours: 7.30am to 9.30am and 5pm to 7pm weekdays and Saturday morning, when 85% of the 1050 MTR carriages are in use.
Travelling by the MTR is so easy: everything