火車殺了巴士 Train killed the bus

九巴的70號巴士停駛了。這也可以說是我的童年回憶隨著都市的步伐加快而停止。其實在我讀中學的八十年代，70號的影響力已經開始放慢。那時吐露港公路剛剛啟用，快線的巴士服務漸漸搶走乘客，但是最主要的原因是火車的電氣化計劃。從1983開始，火車慢慢把新界與九龍的距離拉近。從前花一個多小時的車程縮短為三十六分鐘左右。見新聞報道 和 背景資料 或另一個寫得很詳細的博客。 So a bus route that sort of grew up with me, or vice versa is no more. Blame it on the increasing fast pace of city life in Hong Kong. The trip on No. 70 has a lot of personal spin to it. In the past my family, more often my father and I would ride from terminus to terminus (Jordan Road in Kowloon and Sheung Shui in the New Territories). Withchanging pace in Hong Kong at lightning speed, it is actually quite amazing the No. 70 bus survived so long. When I was studying in Mong Kok and living in Sheung Shui from 1984 to 1987, I took the bus sometimes, just for the fun of it, even though the train would get me home in like 40 minutes. In the very old days, early 1980s in Sheung Shui, buses arriving would have to turned onto the opposite lane and back into the "parking lot" which looked more like just a dirt pit, as it wasn't even paved with cement.

I guess the bus route witness the changing of population density, neighbourhoods, sceneries, etc. I always thought it was the longest bus route in Hong Kong, the trip itself was something, not quite a pilgrimage, but long, taking at times one and a half hours with traffic LOL. Now that it had served it purpose, like many aspects of life Hong Kong, exists only in our memories and contributes to the ever growing nostalgia. Some blog pictures on the buses are here.