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Hong Kong Buses and Trams 1976-1997
The Final British Years
   
Click to enlarge
   
News of this book came in early November 2023 and it was published on 15th November. 

The following is the press release:-

"Hong Kong has long been a place of great interest to transport enthusiasts. Its mixture of predominantly British-built buses operating in a bustling oriental setting holds endless fascination while Hong Kong Tramways’ 1920s-style tramcars evoke past times in an ultra-modern setting.
 
Changes to Hong Kong’s bus and tram scene during the final twenty-one years of British rule are recounted and illustrated in this book. Included are the decline of the China Motor Bus Company’s operations and the emergence of Citybus Limited as a major player. Vehicles of the Kowloon Motor Bus Company, which claimed to be the world’s largest privately-owned bus company operating in a single city, are depicted at various locations including the New Territories. Bus and light rail transit operations of the
Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation are illustrated as are buses of Argos Bus Services, the Motor Transport Company of Guangdong and Hong Kong, the New Lantao Bus Company, Public Light Buses, Stagecoach (Hong Kong) Limited and operations of the Peak Tramways Company.
 
This book includes pictures of some of the many hundreds of second-hand buses from British operators, such as London Transport, Ribble and Southdown, which were imported into Hong Kong from the 1970s onwards."

THE AUTHOR

Philip Wallis has had a lifetime’s interest in road passenger transport. He has travelled extensively within the United Kingdom and abroad observing and photographing buses, trolleybuses and trams. He is the author of several bus books, published by Amberley Publishing, Ian Allan and Capital Transport, and has contributed numerous articles to transport magazines

 
HOW TO OBTAIN A COPY

UK

The book is available to order direct from the publisher, Amberley Publishing. It can also be purchased from Amazon. It will also be available in Kindle, Kobo and iBooks format.

Overseas

The book is available from Wordery, which offers free delivery to many countries (but sadly not to Hong Kong) and also Amazon.
     
 Title :  Hong Kong Buses and Trams 1976-1997
 The Final British Years
 Author :  Philip Wallis
 Publisher :   Amberley Publishing
 Year of publication :  2023
 ISBN :  9781445694856
 Size :   A5 (234mm x 165mm)
 Pages :   96
 Cover :   Softback
 Availability :  15th November 2023
 Price :   £15.99
         
Click to enlarge

Review
     
Having received my copy, here is a brief summary of the book.  

The book is divided into the following sections
(the number in brackets and in red is the number of pages in each section):-

Introduction and Acknowledgements - Glossary of Geographical Terms - Map of Hong Kong in 1997 (1) - Political and Economic Background of Hong Kong (1) - Peak Tramways Company Ltd (2) - Hongkong Tramways Limited (4) - China Motor Bus (23) - Kowloon Motor Bus (1933) Ltd (26) - Public light Buses (3) - New Lantao Bus Company (1973) Ltd (4) - Citybus Limited (14) - The Motor Transport Company of Guangdong and Hong Kong Ltd (1) - Argos Bus Services Ltd (4) - Kowloon and Canton Railway Corporation (6) - Stagecoach (Hong Kong) Ltd (2) - Bibliography. 

 
It not only features photographs taken by the author during his visit to Hong Kong in December 1996, but also those of well-known Hong Kong bus photographers, including Mike Davis, Nigel Eadon-Clarke, Derek Lucas, and David Rowe's collection. The vast majority are in colour. Each section begins with a detailed history of the relevant tram or bus operator. A nice touch is the inclusion of each operator's fleet strength as of 30th June 1997.
  
In my opinion, an excellent book with some very good photographs. I especially like the detailed history of each operator - and all in one book! Well worth the £15.99 (or less in some cases!).
   

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This page last updated Wednesday, 15th November 2023
 
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