The Double Decker Bus Was Introduced to Hong Kong in 1949

In 1923, the first franchised buses, operated by the China Motor Bus Company (CMB), arrived in Kowloon. Ten years later, in 1933, the Hong Kong government granted CMB exclusivity to operate on Hong Kong Island.

That same year, on April 13, 1933, the Kowloon Motor Bus Company (KMB) was founded. Initially, KMB buses were only allowed to operate in Kowloon and the New Territories. By June of that year, KMB had a fleet of 106 single-deck buses.

By the time World War II started in Hong Kong in December 1941, the company operated 140 single-deck buses on 17 routes. Following the end of the war and the Communist takeover of China, Mainland Chinese refugees poured into Hong Kong, and KMB’s ridership increased dramatically.

In 1949, KMB imported 20 double-decker buses from England, becoming the first operator of double-deckers in Hong Kong. Fourteen years later, CMB would follow in KMB’s footsteps and operate its own fleet of double-deckers.

Since then, double-deckers have gained popularity in Hong Kong and are now the most common franchised buses in the region. As of December 2019, KMB operated a fleet of 4,081 buses, of which 3,938 were double-deckers.