新香港巴士 NHKB

一九九一年八月之前，香港跟中國在陸路交通雖然有羅湖，沙頭角，文錦渡及落馬洲皇崗四個陸路口岸，但當時皇崗口岸只提供貨運服務，沙頭角及文錦渡兩個口岸雖然設有客運功能，但是大部份巿民需乘坐直通過境巴士才能途經口岸往返國內不同城巿，而早年直通巴士網絡不如今天般四通八達，加上車費較貴，故此以九廣鐵路連接的羅湖口岸大受歡迎，不少巿民選擇乘搭火車，到達羅湖過境往返內地。

為配合中港兩地交往需要，皇崗口岸客運部份於一九九一年八月八日開始投入服務，自此往返中港的直通巴士多了一個過關選擇，而為了減輕羅湖口岸的負荷，往返口岸的穿梭巴士線便應運而生。經過一輪籌備，有關巴士服務終於趕及香港於一九九七年七月回歸中國前，於同年三月二十日投入服務，來往位於新田的落馬洲公共交通交匯處， 以及深圳皇崗口岸聯檢大樓。

提供相關穿梭巴士服務的藝東有限公司，由九巴及深圳一家巴士公司組成。在一九九八年，藝東有限公司改名成為新香港巴士有限公司，而直到二零一三年七月為止，新香港有限巴士公司仍然為九巴母公司的載通國際的全資附屬公司，與來自深圳的合作夥伴共同營運相關穿梭巴士服務。由於連接皇崗口岸，加上早年一本叫「黃巴士」的暢銷的兒童刊物，於是乎取其諧音稱呼往返落馬洲及皇崗的穿梭巴士成「皇巴士」或簡稱作「皇巴」。

在往返皇崗口岸穿梭巴士營運初期，車隊由十架配Northern Counties車身丹尼士飛鏢組成，而相關服務立即吸引不少使用火車的過境旅客使用。畢竟飛鏢只是一款中型巴士，未能應付這龐大需求，結果在過境高峰日子，旅客往往要在沒有空調的車站，苦候至少兩小時方能乘搭巴士過關。面對不斷上升的客量，有關方面先於二零零零年加派兩輛配本地黃明車身的日野旅遊巴士行走。

可是兩架巴士由於是旅遊客車設計，在這短途而又高客量的環境下，未能有效解決問題，最終促使新香港巴士公司引進來自德國的猛獅NL263大型低地台巴士，而自這批巴士於二零零一年分批投入服務後，憑藉高載客量及全低地台設計，大大改善了過境穿梭巴士的服務質素。眼見這批大型低地台巴士表現令人滿意，二零零三年新香港巴士在增購新車以配合皇崗口岸廿四小時通關，穿梭巴士同時擴展成二十四小時服務時候，亦以大型單層低地台巴士為首選。 來自瑞典的富豪及Scania先後得到垂青提供新車，有趣的是，兩款巴士車身皆選配本地廠家出品。隨後為替換舊車及應付營運需要，猛獅分別於二零零六，一零及一三年為新香港巴士提供新車，無獨有偶三批新車儘管型號不同，但車身皆來自馬來西亞順豐車身廠。

今天，過境穿梭巴士不單候車時間已經大大縮短，位處落馬洲的過境巴士站更已經加建空調候車室，乘客可以在舒適的環境下等候上車。儘管更多的過境口岸及鐵路相繼落成投入服務，對過境穿梭巴士客量造成一定影響，但無可否認不論現在及可見將來，過境穿梭巴士將仍然會成為其中一個重要陸路過境運輸工具。

There were 4 ground immigration control points, Lo Wu, Sha Tau Kok, Man Kam To and Lok Ma Chau (Huanggang), in Hong Kong in early 1990s. Sha Tau Kok and Man Kam To Port serve for both goods and passengers purpose, however, commuters can only to and from China through crossing points by cross border bus, with limited route networks and charged at a quite expensive level. Lok Ma Chau Port only serving goods vehicle before Aug., 1991 and as a result, Lo Wu Port become the most important immigration control point with China as passengers can access there by KCR.

Cross border bus got one more choice for crossing border as Huanggang Port provided service for passengers since 8, Aug., 1991. In addition, an idea of shuttle bus service between Huanggang was proposed to relief the pressure of Lo Wu Port. Finally, the shuttle bus service, running between Lok Ma Chau public transport interchange, San Tin, Hong Kong and Huanggang Port, Shenzhen, was launched on 20, March, 1997, before the handover of Hong Kong to China in Jul., 1997.

This shuttle bus service is operated by Art East Co., Ltd., a joint company of KMB and a bus company form Shenzhen, Art East was then renamed as New Hong Kong Bus Co., Ltd. in 1998 and at present, NHKB is a fully subsidiary company of Transport International and Hong Kong, the parent company of KMB. The shuttle bus is nicknamed "Yellow Bus' or simply "Huang Ba", as the China side terminus located as Huanggang Port and a famous child magazine name "Yellow Bus" in the past.

When first entered service, the shuttle bus fleet was composed of 10 Dennis Dart midibuses bodied by Northern Counties and and successfully attracted commuters used to cross border by railway. The demand was soon cannot just satisfied by the Dart and tourist suffered from waiting at least two hours at Lok Ma Chau Bus Station, without any air conditioning, during peak seasons. To solve the problem, a pair of Hino coaches with local Wong Ming Auto Builder were first introduced in 2000. Though the capacity was much higher for the Hino, they were considered not very suitable for this short-distanced with high demand service.

The demand for the Huanggang shuttle service was expected to be continuously increase, NHKB decided to acquire a full-sized super low floor single decker, MAN NL263 and they started to commission in 2001. The service standard soon upgraded with their higher capacity together with the low floor designed. Though Volvo and Scania from Sweden can be found in the fleet since 2003 when 24-hours operation of Lok Ma Chau checkpoint implemented, MAN is still the first choice for NHKB as fleet replacement and meet the growing demand, three batches of new buses bodied by Gemilang of Malaysia were delivered in 2006, 2010 and 2013 respectively.

Nowadays passenger can enjoy a much comfortable environment and spend less waiting time at the air conditioned waiting lounge at the San Tin bus terminus. It was not surprised that there was an adverse impact on the shuttle bus service when the introduction of the new cross border railway and control points. However, it is believed that the shuttle bus service between Huanggang and Lok Ma Chau still play a significant role in the land-based cross boundary transport no matter at present or in the near future.

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