Urban Route No.4 is a bus route on
Hong Kong Island
Hong Kong Island is an Islands and peninsulas of Hong Kong, island in the southern part of Hong Kong. Known colloquially and on road signs simply as Hong Kong, the island has a population of 1,289,500 and its population density is 16,390/km ...
operated by
Citybus. It runs between
Wong Chuk Hang
Wong Chuk Hang () is a neighbourhood in the Southern District of Hong Kong Island, in Hong Kong.
History
Neolithic artifacts have been unearthed in a region called Chung Hom Wan, which is not far from Wong Chuk Hang. In 1550 the Hong Kong Vill ...
and
Central (Exchange Square) Bus Terminus
The Central (Exchange Square) Bus Terminus () is a major bus terminus located in Central, Central and Western District, Hong Kong. Situated on the ground floor of the Exchange Square commercial complex, the terminus is regarded as the central hu ...
, via
Aberdeen
Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...
,
Wah Fu Estate
Wah Fu Estate () is a public housing estate located next to Waterfall Bay, Pok Fu Lam in Hong Kong's Southern District. It was built on a new town concept in 1967 and was renovated in 2003. Divided into Wah Fu (I) Estate () and Wah Fu (II) E ...
,
Pok Fu Lam Road
Pok Fu Lam Road, or Pokfulam Road, is a four-lane road in Hong Kong. Built on Hong Kong Island, the road runs between Sai Ying Pun and Wah Fu, through Pok Fu Lam.
Description
It runs south from Sai Ying Pun, passing University of Hong Kong, T ...
and
Sai Ying Pun
Sai Ying Pun is an area in Western District, on Hong Kong Island, in Hong Kong. It is administratively part of the Central and Western District.
Etymology
In Cantonese, ''Sai'' () means "west" and ''Ying Pun'' () means "camp", especially a ...
.
History
The route was first started by The
Hongkong and Shanghai Hotels
The Hongkong and Shanghai Hotels, Limited (HSH) is the holding company of a hotel group. It is engaged in the ownership, development and management of The Peninsula Hotels; commercial and residential properties in Asia, the United States and Eur ...
in the 1920s between
Blake Pier in Central and the
University of Hong Kong
The University of Hong Kong (HKU) (Chinese: 香港大學) is a public research university in Hong Kong. Founded in 1887 as the Hong Kong College of Medicine for Chinese, it is the oldest tertiary institution in Hong Kong. HKU was also the fi ...
by way of
Sai Ying Pun
Sai Ying Pun is an area in Western District, on Hong Kong Island, in Hong Kong. It is administratively part of the Central and Western District.
Etymology
In Cantonese, ''Sai'' () means "west" and ''Ying Pun'' () means "camp", especially a ...
, with no route number. On 11 June 1933 CMB took over the route as part of the Hong Kong Island bus service franchise, and given the number 4. In the next year, the Central terminus was moved to the piers of
Hongkong and Yaumati Ferry
The Hongkong and Yaumati Ferry Company Limited (HYF), is a ferry company founded in 1897 in Hong Kong. It is commonly known as Yaumati Ferry. After restructuring the company in 1989, it became a subsidiary of Hong Kong Ferry (Holdings) Company Lim ...
. On 1 April 1935, circular arrangement was implemented, running in anti-clockwise direction, taking
Bonham Road
Bonham Road is a main road in West Mid-Levels, Hong Kong Island in Hong Kong, running mainly East-West. The road connects Pok Fu Lam Road in the west, near the University of Hong Kong, and Caine Road in the east, at the junction with Hospita ...
and
Caine Road
Caine Road is a road running through Mid-Levels, Hong Kong. It connects Bonham Road to the west (at the junction with Hospital Road and Seymour Road), and Arbuthnot Road, Glenealy, Hong Kong, Glenealy and Upper Albert Road to the east.
The road ...
for Central bound. On 14 June 1937, service was extended to
Queen Mary Hospital, and the circular arrangement was cancelled. No service was provided during
Japanese occupation of Hong Kong
The Imperial Japanese occupation of Hong Kong began when the Governor of Hong Kong, Mark Aitchison Young, Sir Mark Young, surrendered the British Crown colony of British Hong Kong, Hong Kong to the Empire of Japan on 25 December 1941. The surr ...
.
Service was resumed on 16 April 1946 between
Central Ferry Piers and Queen Mary Hospital, with initially only two buses running and a frequency of one hour per bus, to be increased gradually. On 3 October 1968, the route was further extended to Wah Fu Estate with the completion of the estate's first phase. Since transportation was inconvenient for the estate, route 4 became the major means of transportation for the residents. As the population of Wah Fu increased, an express service was implemented in 1971, which faced delays caused congestion problems along
Des Voeux Road West
Des Voeux Road Central and Des Voeux Road West are two roads on the north shore of Hong Kong Island, Hong Kong. They were named after the 10th Governor of Hong Kong, Sir William Des Vœux. The name was sometimes spelt with the ligature œ in ...
. On 1 May 1972, the express service was rerouted to serve
Caine Road
Caine Road is a road running through Mid-Levels, Hong Kong. It connects Bonham Road to the west (at the junction with Hospital Road and Seymour Road), and Arbuthnot Road, Glenealy, Hong Kong, Glenealy and Upper Albert Road to the east.
The road ...
and
Bonham Road
Bonham Road is a main road in West Mid-Levels, Hong Kong Island in Hong Kong, running mainly East-West. The road connects Pok Fu Lam Road in the west, near the University of Hong Kong, and Caine Road in the east, at the junction with Hospita ...
in
Mid-Levels
Mid-Levels is an affluent residential area on Hong Kong Island in Hong Kong. It is located between Victoria Peak and Central. Residents are predominantly more affluent Hong Kong locals and expatriate professionals.
The Mid-Levels is further ...
to bypass the congestion, seeing full daytime service and becoming a normal route, denoted by red text on yellow background. On 1 January 1975 the express service was renumbered
40.
On 11 September 1972, the Central terminus moved to a bus terminus opposite to
Hang Seng Bank
Hang Seng Bank Limited () is a Hong Kong-based banking and financial services company with headquarters in Central, Hong Kong. It is one of Hong Kong's leading public companies in terms of market capitalisation and is part of the HSBC Group, ...
headquarters, on 5 December 1994 to Harbour View Street, and on 17 March 1995 to the new ferry piers. On 1 September 1998, the route was taken over by New World First Bus as part of the franchise handover. Air-conditioning of the route started on 11 July 1999 and completed in 2000.
The route has seen a drop of patronage since the 1990s with
Citybus taking over some of the Wah Fu routes and having lower fares than route 4. On 19 December 2004, the route became a circular route, and ceased to serve
Hong Kong station
Hong Kong () is a station of the MTR metro system in Hong Kong. It is the eastern terminus of the and . It is situated between Man Cheung Street and Harbour View Street, Central, Hong Kong Island, and sits underneath the International Fina ...
and the ferry piers.
As a result of Citybus Route 71 reduced service to weekday morning peak only, route 4 was extended to Wong Chuk Hang effective 11 October 2021 (weekday morning peak service keeps the original route).
Current route
Route 4 currently operates via the following locations:-
Official route information of route 4 on Citybus/NWFB Website
* Wong Chuk Hang
Wong Chuk Hang () is a neighbourhood in the Southern District of Hong Kong Island, in Hong Kong.
History
Neolithic artifacts have been unearthed in a region called Chung Hom Wan, which is not far from Wong Chuk Hang. In 1550 the Hong Kong Vill ...
* Aberdeen
Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...
* Wah Fu Estate
Wah Fu Estate () is a public housing estate located next to Waterfall Bay, Pok Fu Lam in Hong Kong's Southern District. It was built on a new town concept in 1967 and was renovated in 2003. Divided into Wah Fu (I) Estate () and Wah Fu (II) E ...
* Queen Mary Hospital
* The University of Hong Kong
The University of Hong Kong (HKU) (Chinese: 香港大學) is a public research university in Hong Kong. Founded in 1887 as the Hong Kong College of Medicine for Chinese, it is the oldest tertiary institution in Hong Kong. HKU was also the fir ...
* MTR HKU station
* Sai Ying Pun
Sai Ying Pun is an area in Western District, on Hong Kong Island, in Hong Kong. It is administratively part of the Central and Western District.
Etymology
In Cantonese, ''Sai'' () means "west" and ''Ying Pun'' () means "camp", especially a ...
* Sheung Wan
Sheung Wan is an area in Hong Kong, located in the north-west of Hong Kong Island, between Central and Sai Ying Pun. Administratively, it is part of the Central and Western District. The name can be variously interpreted as ''Upper Dist ...
* Central
Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object.
Central may also refer to:
Directions and generalised locations
* Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...
On Sundays and public holidays, journeys operating from Wong Chuk Hang will call at additional stops at the Central Ferry Piers.
During the morning peak of Mondays to Saturdays, services would operate from Wah Fu (South) as a circular bus route to Central
Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object.
Central may also refer to:
Directions and generalised locations
* Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...
. Also, three departures would operate from Tin Wan Estate
The following shows the public housing estates (including Home Ownership Scheme (HOS), Private Sector Participation Scheme (PSPS), Tenants Purchase Scheme (TPS) and Sandwich Class Housing Scheme (SCHS)) in Pok Fu Lam, Aberdeen, Wong Chuk Hang a ...
, resuming the routeing of morning peak departures at Wah Fu (South) after serving Wah Kwai Estate
The following shows the public housing estates (including Home Ownership Scheme (HOS), Private Sector Participation Scheme (PSPS), Tenants Purchase Scheme (TPS) and Sandwich Class Housing Scheme (SCHS)) in Pok Fu Lam, Aberdeen, Wong Chuk Hang ...
.
Express service
On Mondays to Saturdays, there is an express service which roughly runs on the same route and labelled with 4X, which skips Sai Ying Pun
Sai Ying Pun is an area in Western District, on Hong Kong Island, in Hong Kong. It is administratively part of the Central and Western District.
Etymology
In Cantonese, ''Sai'' () means "west" and ''Ying Pun'' () means "camp", especially a ...
on its outbound journey, and call at additional stops at the Central Ferry Piers and Central (Exchange Square) Bus Terminus
The Central (Exchange Square) Bus Terminus () is a major bus terminus located in Central, Central and Western District, Hong Kong. Situated on the ground floor of the Exchange Square commercial complex, the terminus is regarded as the central hu ...
. It also skips Sheung Wan
Sheung Wan is an area in Hong Kong, located in the north-west of Hong Kong Island, between Central and Sai Ying Pun. Administratively, it is part of the Central and Western District. The name can be variously interpreted as ''Upper Dist ...
and most of Sai Ying Pun
Sai Ying Pun is an area in Western District, on Hong Kong Island, in Hong Kong. It is administratively part of the Central and Western District.
Etymology
In Cantonese, ''Sai'' () means "west" and ''Ying Pun'' () means "camp", especially a ...
on its return journey in morning peak hours
A rush hour (American English, British English) or peak hour (Australian English) is a part of the day during which traffic congestion on roads and crowding on public transport is at its highest. Normally, this happens twice every weekday: on ...
.
References
External links
*
{{Hong kong bus routes
Bus routes in Hong Kong