Middle九龙 Bypass to fully open on 6 December, cutting travel times
The Middle九龙 Bypass will fully open on 6 December, linking Tseung Kwan O and Yau Ma Tei in about 12 minutes during peak hours. The number of bus routes using the bypass will increase to 13 with over 130 trips daily.
The Middle九龙 Bypass will fully open on 6 December, the Transport Department announced. Commissioner of Transport Carmen Tse Wai-yung inspected the Kowloon Bay section on the morning of 6 November, including the east and west tunnel portals, the Lam Tin interchange, the control centre and the Kai Tak link road.
The department stated on social media that three bus routes will be rerouted via the Kowloon Bay section along the entire Route 6 expressway: Citybus 795 (to West Kowloon), KMB 290E (to Tsuen Wan) and Citybus A28X (to the airport), providing fast services for Tseung Kwan O residents.
Since the Yau Ma Tei section of the bypass opened in December last year, travel times for buses between Kowloon East and New Territories West have been shortened significantly. The number of bus routes using that section has grown from an initial 8 routes with 28 trips to 13 routes with over 130 trips by the end of this year.
Once the Kowloon Bay section is operational, it will join the Yau Ma Tei section and the Tseung Kwan O-Lam Tin Tunnel to form Route 6. The department estimates that peak-hour travel time between Tseung Kwan O and Yau Ma Tei will be reduced from about 65 minutes to about 12 minutes.