We move to Hong Kong for the next set of photos in “Around the World in Trams” with all these images having been taken in April 2026 from the camera of Donald Brooks.
Hong Kong’s tramway is almost certainly the most traditional non-heritage system operating in the world today. The 13.5km double track route is 3’6” gauge, a reminder, along with left-hand running, of the British colonial period, and runs entirely on-street parallel to the north coast of the island though a short distance inland. Trams are four-wheeled double-deckers of a type which would have been familiar a century ago, running very frequently and carrying, according to the tramway’s own statistics, 200,000 passengers a day, despite the existence of an MTR underground line following almost exactly the same route as well as extensive bus competition on the surface.
Hong Kong cars almost invariably carry an advertising livery. Although the long-standing shade of green which is the nominal fleet livery became a Pantone colour in 2021, in practice it is rarely seen. Car 7 is advertising the Hong Kong Business School, part of the university, which could be reached by alighting at Water Street, a few stops short of the tramway’s western terminus at Kennedy Town, and walking inland for about 400m. The car is seen here on King’s Road, near the intermediate terminus of North Point, on an eastbound working to Shaukeiwan, the eastern terminus of the line and usually written as three separate words. It appears to be uncharacteristically lightly loaded, so is likely to have been immediately preceded by another car. If you think the curved white line on the bumper looks like a smile – well, that is the intention. It was introduced in 2017, along with the slogan ‘Catch a ride, catch a smile’.
Photograph by Donald Brooks, 5th April 2026