By Georgia Feldmanis December 11, 2015 / 14:05 HKT
An N969 bus bound for Tin Shui Wai / Photo: HK Bus Wiki
It’s all kicking off in Tin Shui Wai. Those poor residents, already outcast from society in the outback land of the New Territories, will now have to spend an extra 10 minutes getting home from Causeway Bay - time that some residents feel could be better spent flying to Taiwan.
The journey used to fly by, lasting merely 85 minutes at most. But extensions to the N969 route, which will now stop by the new estates in Hung Shui Kiu and 15 more stations, have increased the total travel time to approximately 95 minutes, according to HKFP.
To add to the commuters’ woes, the bus will also have to take a sluggish detour to accommodate for the route changes. Instead of travelling through the Tai Lam Tunnel, the bus will have to travel along the slower and less direct Tuen Mun Highway. When will the torture end?
Those agonising additional minutes have seriously irked some of Tin Shui Wai’s residents. To put this crisis into perspective, a concern group for district affairs, Tin Shui Wai New Force, crafted a satirical photo pointing out that it may be faster for Tin Shui Wai residents to fly to Taiwan than to return home from Causeway Bay.
District councillors decided to take slightly more direct action, by asking the Transport Department to temporarily return the N969 to its original route. The Transport Department has allegedly received 15 complaints in total.
Believe it or not though, the Transport Department did say that it considers the impact to passengers whenever it reviews route amendments.
Clearly it overlooked this catastrophe.
http://hongkong.coconuts.co/2015/12/11/commuter-crisis-tin-shui-wai-bus-journey-longer-flight-taiwan-after-route-change
