Route 12 on Hong Kong Island is a circular bus service operated by Citybus (CTB), between Central Ferry Piers, Central and Robinson Road, Mid Levels.

History

Route 12 was started by China Motor Bus on 1955-08-16, between the then Central Ferry Pier just adjacent to Connaught Road Central and Seymour Road. It is the first bus route in Hong Kong to be designated as a circular route, since there was no room for the construction of a new bus terminal. At that time it ran clockwise in Mid Levels via Robinson Road, Seymour Road and Caine Road. On 1963-05-14 the service was diverted to run on Robinson Road, Park Road and Bonham Road. On 1972-09-11 the Central terminal was changed to a bus terminal opposite to the heaquarters of Hang Seng Bank.

On 1974-04-16 the route was diverted to run anti-clockwise in Mid Levels via Caine Road, Seymour Road and Robinson Road to utilise the newly opened bus lane along westbound Caine and eastbound Robinson, the first in Hong Kong. On 1985-02-01 the terminal was transferred to Connaught Square and on 1987-04-06 to a permanent bus terminus under Exchange Square. On 1993-09-01 the route was transferred from CMB to Citybus, together with 25 other routes. Route 12 was designated a full air-conditioned route on the same day.

In 1994 Citybus proposed the merger of routes 12 and 12M, and even issued a passenger notice about it, before the plan was cancelled due to strong opposition from residents in Mid Levels. After the completion of the Central-Mid-Levels escalators, the patronage of the route started to decrease. On 1995-09-20 the terminal was changed for the last time to the new Central Piers. In 2003 Citybus again proposed the merger of route 12 with another route, this time with 3B, but was again cancelled due to opposition. Between 2003-04-18 and 2004-08-30 the route passed through Admiralty to deal with the cancellation of M16.

In 2008, Citybus once again proposed that the route be cancelled, citing rising fuel prices and increasing operating costs.

Route

The journey distance is 7.6km with a time of 37 minutes, via:

• Man Kwong Street
• Man Yiu Street
• Harbour View Street
• Connaught Road Central
• Harcourt Road
• Cotton Tree Drive
• Kennedy Road
• Upper Albert Road
• Caine Road
• Seymour Road
• Robinson Road
• Garden Road
• Queen's Road Central
• Pedder Street
• Connaught Square
• Man Kwong Street

References