The Kennedy Town Tram
A Little Background
Taking the Kennedy Town tram to the eastern end of Hong Kong Island at Shau Kei Wan — or indeed any portion of that journey — is one of the great slow-travel experiences in Asia. It costs almost nothing, requires no planning, and shows you a cross-section of Hong Kong street life that no tour bus comes close to.
The Hong Kong tram system, affectionately known as the Ding Ding for the sound of its bell, opened in 1904, making it one of the oldest electric tram systems in the world still in operation. It runs exclusively along the northern shore of Hong Kong Island, tracing a 13-kilometre east–west route through some of the densest urban fabric on the planet. What makes it genuinely distinctive is that it operates the world’s largest fleet of double-decker trams — all of them. Every single tram is a double-decker, and the upper deck, with its old wooden seats and open-sided views, is the place to be.
Kennedy Town is the western terminus. Once a working-class area with a distinct edge, it has gentrified considerably over the past decade — speciality coffee shops and wine bars occupy the ground floors of old tenement buildings — though it retains enough of its original character to feel like a real neighbourhood rather than a showpiece.
The routes
There are six main routes on the Tram network
| Western Market | <---> | Shau Kei Wan |
| Happy Valley | <---> | Shau Kei Wan |
| Shek Tong Shui | <---> | North Point |
| Shek Tong Shui | <---> | Causeway Bay |
| Kennedy Town | <---> | Happy Valley |
| Kennedy Town | <---> | Shau Kei Wan |
The route passes through Sai Wan, Sheung Wan, Central, Admiralty, Wan Chai, and Causeway Bay before continuing east — each district with its own character and visible social shift. You can ride the full length and back for the cost of two fares.
The streets around Sheung Wan and Kennedy Town have developed one of the city’s most interesting independent bar and café scenes over the past decade — a quieter, more local alternative to Lan Kwai Fong or Wan Chai. Our Bars and Nightlife guide covers the western district scene.
In Kennedy Town itself, the Belcher Bay Promenade at the western end is a pleasant spot to begin or end the day — an open waterfront area with views across to Kowloon. The Stone Wall Trees, a short walk from the tram stop, are remarkable — a line of ancient banyan trees, four of which are more than 120 years old, their roots and buttresses engulfing the stone walls they have grown against over the decades.
Getting There
Kennedy Town is served by its own MTR station on the Island Line — a straightforward journey from Central. The tram terminus is a few minutes’ walk from the station exit. Alternatively, simply board any westbound tram on the route and ride it to its end. For a broader picture of how the tram network fits into getting around Hong Kong Island, see our guide to Getting Around Hong Kong.
Cost
Trams run from around 5:30am to midnight daily. The flat fare is **HK$3.00** for adults, HK$1.50 for children aged 3–11, and HK$1.50 for seniors. Payment is on exit — by Octopus card (tap on the reader as you step off) or by dropping the exact coins into the fare box. No change is given, so have coins ready if you’re not using Octopus.
At HK$3 flat fare, the tram is one of the great bargains in Hong Kong — featured alongside the Star Ferry in our Budget Guide as an essential cheap experience.
Pause and Notice
Everything else in Hong Kong hurries; the tram refuses. You climb the narrow stair to the wooden upper deck, the bell sounds its two soft notes, and the whole contraption eases forward at the pace of a brisk walk — and time, almost at once, begins to dilate. The city no longer rushes past but scrolls, close and unhurried, at the level of its own life: you look straight into first-floor windows, over the shoulders of cooks and barbers, down into the press of a street market the tram noses gently through. Warm air moves through the open sides. Nothing is urgent; nothing can be hurried. The slowness, which ought to frustrate, becomes a kind of permission — to stop arriving anywhere, to be carried at human speed through the ordinary business of the city. By your stop you are oddly reluctant to step down, as if briefly let out of the day’s hurry and now made to rejoin it.
Explore further
Peter Waller (2018) The Tramways of Hong Kong, Blacksmith Books Publications.
Alan Cheung Shun-kwong (2024), “Ding Ding and I: Photo Album of the 120th Anniversary of the HK Tramways.” In Print.
Days of being wild (1990), directed Wong Kar-wai. A feature film. Maggie Cheung and Andy Lau walk the tram tracks; iconic tram imagery.
In the Mood for Love (2000), directed Wong Kar-wai. Feature film with street and tram backdrop.
Hong Kong Tourist Board, Movie Tram tours – seasonal or occasional. Enquire with Tourist Board
‘Sardine can’ tram imagery – various. Early 20th Century literature likened the trams to being packed like “sardine cans”. Currently not sourced.
External Links
Hong Kong Tourist Board: Everything to Know About the Beloved ‘Ding Ding’.
The official site of the Hong Kong Tramway
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