KMB Routes 290 and 290A

Air-Conditioned New Territories Route No. 290 and 290A are Hong Kong bus routes operated by Kowloon Motor Bus, plying between Choi Ming Court in Tseung Kwan O and Tsuen Wan West Station.

290 / 290A
One of the Alexander Dennis Enviro500 MMCs (TF7808) allocated to 290 and 290A bears an allover advertisement promoting the routes
Overview
OperatorKowloon Motor Bus
GarageKowloon Bay (K) - Tseung Kwan O
Lai Chi Kok (K) - Tsing Yi
VehicleAlexander Dennis Enviro500 MMC (ATENU)
Peak vehicle requirement21 (for both routes)
Route
StartTseung Kwan O (Choi Ming Court)
ViaHang Hau and Po Lam
Sau Mau Ping and Sze Shun (route 290A only)
Wong Tai Sin
Kwai Chung
EndTsuen Wan West Station
Service
LevelDaily
Frequencyevery 20 minutes for each individual route
combined headway of 10-minute intervals for both routes
Operates05:30 until 23:50 (290)
06:00 until 00:20 (290A)

Routeings of the two routes are roughly the same, save for a section within the neighbourhoods of Sau Mau Ping and Sze Shun in Kwun Tong District, New Kowloon, whereas route 290 passes through without any stops, while 290A call at various stops along the way.

History

Residents of the new town of Tseung Kwan O in New Territories East have been fighting for a direct bus connection to Kwai Chung and Tsuen Wan in New Territories West for many years,[1] citing the reason that travelling by MTR between the two places requires a number of transfers in between. It was under such demand that the Transport Department suggested the introduction of such routes, then unnumbered and proposed to operate between Hang Hau (North) and Tsuen Wan (Nina Tower), in the 2013–2014 Bus Route Development Programme. It was put forward that the route would utilize buses spared by cancelling Cross-Harbour Bus Route 692, which suffered heavy losses.[2]

The Transport Department confirmed in June 2014 that the route would operate via Sau Ming Road in Sau Mau Ping, and tendering exercise would take place at the end of that month. Such decision sparked opposition from the Sai Kung District Council, which believed that resources spared from the district should not be used to cater for the needs of other districts like Kwun Tong. The Government thus gave in to the council's demands and offered that the route would be amended to take a more direct routeing via Kwun Tong Bypass, so that it would not serve Sau Mau Ping. This in turn resulted in the disapproval of Kwun Tong District Council, which threatened that actions would be taken by residents of the districts if such amendments take place.[3]

In October 2014, the Government announced that two variants would be available for the Tseung Kwan O to Tsuen Wan bus route, one skipping the whole of Sau Mau Ping and Sze Shun and one calling at stops within the two neighbourhoods, with the total journey time of 63 and 80 minutes respectively.[4] Tenders were invited from the existing franchised bus operators for the operation rights of the route a month later. Transport Department confirmed in February 2015 that the then-unnumbered route was awarded to Kowloon Motor Bus,[5] and the company started to operate the two variants, numbered 290 and 290A, on 28 March 2015.[6]

Route

Routes 290 and 290A operate via the following neighbourhoods and locations:

The routeings of 290 and 290A differ in Sau Mau Ping and Sze Shun. Between Po Tat Estate and Choi Wan Estate, route 290 adopts a direct routeing via Sau Mau Ping Road and Shun Lee Tsuen Road, bypassing and not making any stop at the two public housing estate neighbourhoods; route 290A enters the neighbourhoods, operates via Sau Ming Road, Shun On Road and Lee On Road with additional intermediate stops along the way.

Apart from the above-mentioned section, the routeings and stopping arrangements of the two routes are the same.

Previous route 290 in Hong Kong

Prior to the introduction of the current route 290, the same number has been applied to a Rennie's Mill – Choi Hung route operated during between 1989 and 1996. Rennie's Mill is the name of Tiu Keng Leng before the area was incorporated into the Tseung Kwan O New Town.

Coincidentally, the routeings of the 1989–1996 and 2015- versions of 290 are the same between Ma Yau Tong Village and Choi Hung Station.

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See also

References
  1. "西貢區會交運會遞運署四千簽名 促闢巴士綫通荃灣". 華僑日報. Hong Kong. 1991-08-17.
  2. "將軍澳692線過海巴月底取消". The Sun. 2013-11-09.
  3. "Minutes of the 17th Meeting, Traffic and Transport Committee, The 4th Session of the Kwun Tong District Council" (PDF). Districtcouncils.gov.hk. Retrieved 2015-09-25.
  4. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-12-14. Retrieved 2015-09-25.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  5. "九巴擬開辦將軍澳至荃灣巴士線服務". Oriental Daily News. 2015-02-03.
  6. "KMB Introduces Routes 290 and 290A to Connect Tseung Kwan O and Tsuen Wan" (Press release). Hong Kong: The Kowloon Motor Bus (1933) Company, Limited. 2015-03-26. Retrieved 2015-09-26.
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