NWFB Route 13

Bus terminus at City Hall, Edinburgh Place

Bus terminus at Kotewall Road

NWFB Route 13 on Hong Kong Island is a bus service operated by New World First Bus (NWFB), between City Hall, Central and Kotewall Road, Mid Levels.

History

Route 13 service was started by China Motor Bus (CMB) on 16 April 1974, when the first bus lane in Hong Kong, the one along westbound Caine Road, came into operation. The fare at that time was 50 cents, without child fare concession or section fare arrangements. At that time, the main bus fleet on the line was Guy Arab Mk V (LX class). After CMB converted routes 260, 261 and 262 into full air-conditioned services in 1991, the MCW Metrobus coaches used on these routes were transferred to route 13.

The route was handed over to the current operator NWFB on 1 September 1998, when the franchise for CMB to operate bus services ended. On 13 September 1998 route 13 became a full air-conditioned service. Later NWFB introduced Dennis Trident 10.3m buses (33XX) on the route. After the Star Ferry Pier moved from Edinburgh Place Ferry Pier to the new Central Piers, the Central terminus of the route did not move to the new terminus there; it stayed where it was, only with a change of the name to Central (City Hall).

The route and the location of the termini for route has never been permanently changed since its inauguration, making it the bus service in Hong Kong with the route sustained for the longest period of time.^[1][2]

Numbering

Until the 1970s, new CMB routes were numbered in consecutive order. Route 12 was opened in 1955 and route 14 in 1960, but CMB initially skipped the number 13, citing the superstitious belief that 13 is an unlucky number as a reason. When CMB planned to operate a new service between Star Ferry Pier and Kotewall Road, the decision to use the number 13 caused controversy within the upper levels of the company. Eventually, the director of CMB, Ngan Shing Kwan, who was a Christian, announced on a newspaper that he does not believe the unluckiness of the number 13, and decided that the number will be used on the new route.^[1]

Route

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to NWFB Route 13.

1. 1 2 Stanley Yung (December 2004). The Development of Hong Kong Island Bus Routes in 20th century. Ming Hing. ISBN 962-8414-66-6. 
2. ↑ Eric Lo. "NWFB Route 13". 681 Bus Terminal. Retrieved 9 February 2008. 
3. 1 2 "Information for route 13". NWFB website. Retrieved 8 February 2008. 

Franchised bus routes in Hong Kong
Bus services Bus route numbering History of bus transport Bus Companies (CTB & Cityflyer, KMB, LWB, MTR, NLB, NWFB)
Hong Kong Island	1 1P 2 2A 2X 3A 4 4X 5B 5X 6 6A 6X 7 8 8P 8S 8X 9 10 11 12 12A 12M 13 14 15 15B 15C 18 18P 18X 19 19P 23 23B 25 25A 26 27 30X 37A 37B 37X 38 40 40M 40P 41A 42 42C 43M 47P 48 63 65 66 70 70P 71 71P 72 72A 73 73P 75 76 77 77X 78 81 81A 81S 82 82M 82S 82X 85 85A 85P 90 90B 90C 91 91A 93 93A 93C 94 94A 94X 95 95B 95C 95P 96 97 97A 98 99 99X 260 314 347 511 590 590A 592 595 629 629A 629S 720 720A 720P 722 780 780P 788 789 N8 N8P N8X N72 N90
Kowloon and New Territories	1 1A 2 2A 2B 2D 2E 2F 3B 3C 3D 3M 3P 5 5A 5C 5D 5M 5P 5R 5S 6 6C 6D 6F 7 7B 7M 8 8A 8P 9 10 11 11B 11C 11D 11K 11X 12 12A 13D 13M 13P 13S 13X 14 14B 14D 14X 15 15A 15X 16 16M 17 18 21 23 23M 24 26 26M 27 28 28B 28S 29M 30 30X 31 31B 31M 32 32M 33A 34 34M 35A 35X 36 36A 36B 36M 36X 37 37M 38 38A 39A 39M 40 40P 40X 41 41A 41M 41P 42 42A 42C 42M 43 43A 43B 43C 43M 43P 43X 44 44M 45 46 46P 46X 47X 48X 49P 49X 51 52X 53 54 57M 58M 58P 58X 59A 59M 59X 60M 60X 61M 61X 62X 63X 64K 64S 65K 66M 66X 67M 67X 68A 68E 68M 68X 69M 69P 69X 70K 71A 71B 71K 71S 72 72A 72C 72X 73 73A 73K 73X 74A 74B 74C 74D 74K 74P 74X 75K 75P 75X 76K 77K 78K 79K 80 80K 80M 80P 80X 81 81C 81K 81S 82B 82C 82K 82P 82X 83K 83S 83X 84M 85 85A 85B 85K 85M 85S 85X 86 86A 86C 86K 86S 87B 87D 87K 87P 87S 88K 88X 89 89B 89C 89D 89P 89X 91 91M 91P 91R 92 93A 93K 93M 94 95 95M 96R 98A 98C 98D 98P 98S 99 99R 203C 203E 203S 208 211 212 213M 215P 215X 216M 219X 224X 230X 234A 234B 234C 234P 234X 235 235M 237A 238M 238P 238S 238X 240X 242X 243M 243P 248M 249M 249X 251A 251B 251M 252B 258D 258P 258S 259B 259C 259D 259E 260B 260C 260X 261 261B 261P 263 265B 265M 265S 267S 268B 268C 268X 269A 269B 269C 269D 269M 269P 270 270A 270B 270P 270S 271 271P 272A 272K 272P 272S 272X 273 273A 273B 273C 273D 273P 273S 274P 275R 276 276A 276B 276P 277E 277P 277X 278K 278P 278X 279X 280X 281A 281B 281M 281X 282 283 284 286C 286M 286P 286X 287X 288 289K 290 290A 292P 296A 296C 296D 296M 297 297P 298E 299X 506 701 701S 702 702A 702S 792M 796C 796P 796S 796X 797M 798 848 868 869 872 885 886 887 888 889 891 893 K12 K14 K17 K18 K51 K52 K53 K58 K65 K66 K68 K73 K74 K75 K75P K76 N73 N216 N237 N241 N260 N269 N271 N281 N293 N796 T270 T277 X42C
Lantau Island	1 1R 2 3M 4 11 21 23 34 36 37 37P 38 38X N1 N38
Northern Lantau and Airport	A10 A11 A12 A21 A22 A29 A31 A33 A35 A41 A41P A43 E11 E11S E21 E21A E21X E22 E22A E22P E22S E22X E23 E31 E32 E33 E33P E34A E34B E34P E41 E42 N11 N21 N21A N23 N26 N29 N30 N30P N30S N31 N35 N42 N42A N64 R8 R33 R42 S1 S52 S52P S56 S64 S64C S64P S64X X1 X11 X21 X22 X33 X34 X35 X41 X48
Cross Harbor Routes	101 101R 101X 102 102P 102R 103 103P 104 106 106A 106P 107 107P 108 109 110 111 111P 112 113 115 115P 116 117 117R 118 118P 170 171 171A 171P 182 301 302 302A 305 307 307A 307B 307C 307P 373 373A 601 601P 603 603P 603S 606 606A 606X 619 619P 619X 621 641 671 678 680 680A 680B 680P 680X 681 681P 682 682A 682B 682C 682P 690 690P 692P 694 802 811 904 905 914 914P 914X 930 930A 934 935 936 948 948P 948X 960 960A 960B 960P 960S 960X 961 961P 962 962A 962B 962C 962P 962S 962X 967 967X 968 968X 969 969A 969B 969C 969P 969X 970 970X 971 973 973P 982X H1 N118 N121 N122 N170 N171 N182 N368 N619 N680 N691 N962 N969 X962
Cross Border	B1 B2 B2P B2X B3 B3A B3M B3X
Cancelled Routes	Citybus Route 3B Citybus Route 5 KMB Route 66 KMB Route 70
Transport in Hong Kong Bus terminuses Hong Kong bus route numbering