Kai Tack Motor Bus Company Limited [1923-1933]

• 1923
  • In May the Kai Tack Motor Bus Company Limited started services between Tsim Sha Tsui and Yau Ma Tei, Hung Hom and Kowloon City.[1]
• 1926
  • In April the government announced it would let the three bus companies with services in Kowloon (i.e. KMB, CMB, and Kai Tack) continue for another three years, and would not grant a monopoly. One condition was that the bus companies must phase out their current buses: "The first replacements will take place on January 1st, 1927, when each of the three companies will secure three 30-passenger British buses. Gradually all the old buses will be done away with." [2]
     

  • A November article [3] described the new buses that had been ordered:

    BRITISH BUSES FOR HONG KONG. Some Details of a Fleet of Dennis Vehicles for Carrying Both First and Third Class Passengers. [...] One of the latest fleets of British buses which has recently left this country for service abroad has been completed by Dennis Bros.. Ltd., of Guildford, which has built the vehicles for the Kai Tack Motor Bus Co. (1926), Ltd., for service in Hong Kong. A general indication of the build of the vehicles can be obtained from a picture of one of the machines, and in reading our brief description of this vehicle it should he borne in mind that it is similar in construction to the buses shown in the other picture which we reproduce. The body is arranged to seat 27 passengers, and it has three doors, that at the front on the off side leading to the driver's compartment only. A partition which is set transversely inside the main part of the body divides the latter into two sections, one being intended for use by first-class passengers and the other by those travelling third-class. The police authorities in Hong Kong lifeguards are fitted on both the near and off sides, whilst a driver's mirror is also mounted on the off side. On the near side of the body there are four drop windows, whilst there are five which can be lowered on the off side. These have patent fittings which allow them to be regulated and locked in any position, and they are rattleproof. Pivoted ventilators are located above the main windows, and the ventilation of the interior is further assisted by two Airvac ventilators which are situated in the roof. The roof and its supporting pillars are painted white, and below the black belt which marks the waist line the groundwork is carried out in grey, the English characters which it bears being in gold, shaded black, and the Chinese ideographs in black. The chassis to which this body is fitted is the Dennis 15-ft. wheelbase model, the features of which are a four-cylinder engine developing up to 55 h.p., a cone clutch, four-speed gearbox and worm-driven rear axle. The bus is shod with pneumatic tyres of 36-in. by 6-in, dimensions, singles being used at the front and twins at the rear, and it is interesting to note that a mileage recorder is incorporated in the near-side front hub-cap.

    

• 1928

  • The company is running the services for routes 3, 4, and 5:

    

• 1929
  • On 1 Jan 1929, Hongkong Tramways Ltd assumed control of the Kai Tack Motor Bus Co. (1926), Ltd.[4]
  • Eight new buses were purchased during the course of the year, giving the company a total of 24 Dennis motor buses.[4]
• 1933
  • On 7 June, Kai Tack Bus Co. ceased operations and KMB took over the running of their fleet. This was part of the process to give KMB the monopoly of bus services in Kowloon. [5]

References:

1. Page 188, Hong Kong Chronicles: Overview & Chronology
2. 'KOWLOON BUS SERVICE. NEW SCHEME TO BE INAUGURATED.', page 6, Hong Kong Daily Press, 10 Apr 1926
3. Page 62, Commercial Motor, 30 Nov 1926
4. 'City Transport Proposal', page 7, Hong Kong Telegraph, 18 Mar 1930
5. 'KOWLOON BUS MONOPOLY. KAI TACK VEHICLES TAKEN OVER.', page 7, Hong Kong Telegraph, 8 Jun 1933