Zone 4 route 49A is operated by FT Central Connect, running between Northern Beach and Sunshine Pier, serving Rocky Road, Northern Interchange, Central Road and Sunshine Station.
This route is the second Zone 4 route, mainly operating in the northern and central sections of the aforementioned area.
While this route shares the same routing with routes 41A and 42A at Moon Island, as well as sharing the same bus termini on North Island with route 41A (Northern Beach) and having a nearly identical routing with route 42A, route 49A is the only route that serves the rural settlements along Rocky Road and Downhill Estate.
History[]
- On 3 November 2017, route 49A started operations. This route and 42 are the first two bus routes in Sunshine Islands.
- On 4 August 2019, Sunshine Road near Central Hospital is rebuilt, stop location changed.
- On 9 December 2019, additional bus stop at Southern Market for Northern Beach direction journeys, and The Southern for Sunshine Station bound journeys.
- On 10 December 2019, the Uphill Slope bus stop is cancelled for both directions, Downhill Estate Bus Terminus is rebuilt, bus stop there relocated.
- On 13 December 2019, North Island Garden South Tower Stop renamed as North Island Estate Shopping Centre, stop location also changed
- On 20 June 2020, the stations between North Island Estate Rocky Tower and Northern Beach are modified as per the rebuild of Rocky Road. It also travels via North Island Hill peak. And the frequency of the route is reduced.
- On 23 August 2020, NWFB joined.
- On 1 June 2024, route 49A extend to Sunshine Pier, additional stop at Panorama Heights for both directions, and North Island Estate for Sunshine Pier bound journeys. While North Island Estate Rocky Tower stop was cancelled for both directions. Besides that, HSBC headquarter stop was renamed as Maple Lane, the operator of route 49A changed to Sunshine Islands Bus due to SE Ceased operations.
- On 29 June 2024, the operator of route 49A changed to Forever Transit Central Connect (FTCC).
Timetable[]
| To Sunshine Pier | |
|---|---|
| Service Hours | Headways (Min) |
| Mondays to Fridays | |
| 05:30 - 07:00 | 30 |
| 07:00-09:00 | 15 |
| 09:00 - 15:30 | 30 |
| 15:30 - 16:30 | 15 |
| 16:30 - 17:30 | 30 |
| 17:30 - 19:00 | 20 |
| 19:00 - 22:00 | 30 |
| 22:00 - 00:00 | 25 |
| Saturdays, Sundays and Public Holidays | |
| 05:30 - 07:00 | 20 - 30 |
| 07:00-09:30 | 30 |
| 09:30-17:30 | 20 |
| 17:30 - 19:00 | 30 |
| 19:00 - 22:00 | 25 |
| 22:00 - 00:00 | 30 |
| 00:40 | |
| To Northern Beach | |
|---|---|
| Service Hours | Headways (Min) |
| Mondays to Fridays | |
| 05:40 - 07:00 | 25 |
| 07:00 - 07:50 | 16 |
| 09:00 - 17:30 | 30 |
| 17:30 - 19:00 | 15 |
| 19:00 - 22:00 | 30 |
| 22:00 - 00:30 | 25 |
| Saturdays, Sundays and Public Holidays | |
| 05:40 - 07:00 | 20 |
| 07:00-07:50 | 12 - 15 |
| 08:30-17:30 | 20 |
| 17:30 - 22:00 | 20 |
| 22:00 - 23:30 | 30 |
| 23:30 - 00:30 | 25 |
| 01:00 | |
Fare[]
Full Fare: $5.4
Northern Interchange BBI Discount Details
| From Route | Interchange to Route | BBI Discount |
|---|---|---|
| 41A, 42, 42A, 46, 49A | All other routes | Pay the fare difference |
| 140, 142, 171 | 141P, 148 | Pay $0.8 |
| 141P, 148 | 140, 141, 142, 148, 171 | Free |
| 473 | 41A, 42, 42A, 46, 49A | 42, 46: Free 41A, 49A: Pay $2.1 |
| No BBI discount provided for interchanging from 140, 141P, 142, 148, 171 to all other routes or interchanging from 473 to 140, 141P, 142, 148, 171 | ||
| From Route | Interchange to Route | BBI Discount |
|---|---|---|
| 41A, 42, 42A, 46, 49A | All other routes | Pay the fare difference |
| 140, 141P, 142, 148, 171 | Both directions: 41A, 42, 42A, 46, 49A To Zone 4 only: 140, 141, 142, 148 |
Free |
| 171 | Pay the fare difference | |
| No BBI discount provided for interchanging from 140, 141P, 142, 148, 171 to 473 or interchanging from 473 to all other routes | ||
Scheduled bus fleet list[]
FTCC scheduled 9 buses on routes 42A and 49A, their distributions are as follows:
- 1 FT Enviro500 MMC 12m (9XX)
- 3 Enviro500 11.3m (22XX)
- 5 MAN RC2 (35XX)
| Schedule list of Route 42A and route 49A | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Fleet no. | License Plate | Depot | Remarks |
| 969 | TN370 | Lunar Bay Depot (S) | For additional departures For 42A only |
| 2213 | PG8393 | Operate all day | |
| 2218 | PH1012 | ||
| 2219 | PH1927 | ||
| 3520 | TN7440 | ||
| 3523 | TP4240 | ||
| 3524 | TP7838 | ||
| 3528 | TR1127 | Operates during Peak hours only | |
| 3529 | TR2172 | ||
This list is the schedule list up to July 2024, from FT Discord server. This list may not be listed according to track.
This list is for reference only, and may be updated at any time. To know more about the change of schedule list, please refer to the relevant information listed in FT Discord server.
Stops[]
To Sunshine Pier[]
| FTCC Route 49A (Northern Beach → Sunshine Pier) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No | Place | Street Name | Stop Name (English) | Stop Name (Chinese) | Note |
| 1 | Zone 4 (North Island) |
Northern Beach | 北灘 | ||
| 2 | Rocky Road | 20 Rocky Road | 巨石路20號 | ||
| 3 | 35 Rocky Road | 巨石路35號 | |||
| 4 | North Peak Road | North Island Hill Peak | 北島山頂 | ||
| 5 | Rocky Road | 60 Rocky Road | 巨石路60號 | ||
| 6 | Rocky Road | 巨石路 | |||
| 7 | North Island Road | North Island Estate | 北島花園 | ||
| 8 | North Island Estate Shopping Center | 北島花園商場 | |||
| 9 | Shek Name Street | Panorama Heights | 望環台 | ||
| 10 | North Island Road | Downhill Estate | 落山邨 | ||
| 11 | Zone 4 (Northern) |
Moon Island Bypass | Northern Interchange (Southbound) | 北環轉車站 (南行) | |
| 12 | Zone 4 (Central) |
Central Road | Maple Lane | 楓樹里 | |
| 13 | Glass Office | 玻璃樓 | |||
| 14 | The ONE | The ONE | |||
| 15 | Zone 4 (Southern) |
Johnson Market | 強生街市 | ||
| 16 | Sunshine Road | The Southern | 南環中心 | ||
| 17 | Central Hospital Road | Central Hospital | 中環醫院 | ||
| 18 | Sunshine Road | Sunshine Station | 陽光高鐵站 | ||
| 19 | Sunshine Pier | 陽光碼頭 | |||
To Northern Beach[]
| FTCC Route 49A (Sunshine Pier → Northern Beach) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No | Place | Street Name | Stop Name (English) | Stop Name (Chinese) | Note |
| 1 | Zone 4
(Southern) |
Sunshine Pier | 陽光碼頭 | ||
| 2 | Sunshine Road | Sunshine Station | 陽光高鐵站 | ||
| 3 | Central Hospital Road | Central Hospital | 中環醫院 | ||
| 4 | Central Road | Southern Market | 南環街市 | ||
| 5 | Johnson Market | 強生街市 | |||
| 6 | Zone 4
(Central) |
The ONE | The ONE | ||
| 7 | Glass Office | 玻璃樓 | |||
| 8 | Maple Lane | 楓樹里 | |||
| 9 | Zone 4
(Northern) |
Moon Island Bypass | Northern Interchange (Northbound) | 北環轉車站 (北行) | |
| 10 | Zone 4
(North Island) |
North Island Road | Downhill Estate | 落山邨 | |
| 11 | Unnamed Street | Panorama Heights | 望環台 | ||
| 12 | North Island Road | North Island Estate Shopping Center | 北島花園商場 | ||
| 13 | Rocky Road | Rocky Road | 巨石路 | ||
| 14 | 60 Rocky Road | 巨石路60號 | |||
| 15 | North Peak Road | North Island Hill Peak | 北島山頂 | ||
| 16 | Rocky Road | 35 Rocky Road | 巨石路35號 | ||
| 17 | 20 Rocky Road | 巨石路20號 | |||
| 18 | Northern Beach | 北灘 | |||
Vehicle Restrictions[]
Due to the road condition at Northern Beach, and the low level of passengers especially on weekdays, only single deck buses that were less than 10 m long were allowed on this route. Originally, Sunshine Express would deploy Toyota Coasters to the route, as they were intentionally ordered to meet road restrictions.
When SE deployed new livery buses to the Islands, the Hino Poncho was the major bus model that was used for this route. Following the retirement of the minibuses at the end of 2019, Sunshine Express would deploy Youngman JNP6122Gs and MAN RC2s on the route. Dennis Trident 10.3M LH was once used on testings but found the roads may damage the Dennis Trident's engine since it is already very old.
After the rebuilt of Rocky Road in June 2020, the road conditions at Northern Beach have improved. After road testings the vehicle restrictions have been cancelled in late August 2020.
From 29 June 2024, due to the narrow passages of the parking lot in North Island Hill Peak, buses with length longer than 11.3m will not be deployed to operate this route unless necessary.
Usage Status[]
Route 49A shares the same route with the more direct and frequent 41A and 42A for its entire Moon Island section, with the latter also sharing identical routes along its North Island section. As a result, Route 49A does not see much traffic throughout the day when compared to route 41A or 42A. However, 49A is also the only route that serves the developments at Rocky Road and North Island Hill Peak, which led to many hikers using this route to return to Moon Island for interchange other buses at Northern Interchange or Metro at Sunshine Station. The route is also a useful supplementary route to 42A during peak hours, as route 42A can often get full of student commuters along the North Island Hill area.
Gallery[]
Link[]
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