Iconic or not, this new price hike is going to hurt business

**Me Jamie, your host, I am English and I have lived in Hong Kong since January 2nd 1972 - I know the place.**

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The Peak Tram Hong Kong - New prices January 1st 2026

Iconic or not, this new price hike is going to hurt business

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The Peak Tram Hong Kong | Iconic but becoming too expensive | Hong Kong

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The Peak Tram Hong Kong | Press Announcement 22.12.2025 | Hong Kong

The Peak Tram Hong Kong

Price gouging 101

Let me be absolutely clear, I am a huge, huge fan of the Peak Tram in Hong Kong, it is a national treasure and a real icon of Tourism with a stellar worldwide reputation

I have been on the Peak Tram many thousands of times since January 2nd 1972 and I never get tired of the experience.

However

The Peak Tram Company increased the prices by a huge amount after the big overhaul and revamp in 2022, they did away with off peak prices last year and now another huge increase

I am probably in the minority here but I never buy tickets in advance or online and I never do the Tram 2 ways and 99% of the time I simply take the Peak Tram DOWN and never up and I am always careful with my timing

There comes a time when companies step over a line when it comes to pricing particularly when they have no direct competition and we are at that moment.

The Peak Tram experience has been going steadily downhill since we started to get flooded with Mainland Chinese Tourists (with the break for Covid)m- we still have not hit the heights of 2018 when we had 65 million visitors, this year it will be just shy of 50 million

I have no issues at all with Mainland Chinese Tourists, the sheer volume of our friends over the border have rescued Hong Kong Tourism to the extent that for many years now they represent just about 80% of visitor arrivals coming to Hong Kong

With the Peak Tram surely there comes a time when enough is enough, for a long time the crowds have made for a horrible experience, particularly going up, the Peak Tower 428 Sky Terrace is horrible experience for the view and expensive to boot and a tourist trap, so it is a bit of a kick in the teeth when they continue to raise prices and you still have long waits and have to deal with a crush of rowdy people all trying to get the best seats

I am sure the Management of the Peak Tram Co and the parent company (the Peninsula Hotel Group so to speak via Hong Kong and Shanghai Hotels) are pretty smug about this given that they have no competitors but I just wonder if pepole will now consider simply doing the Tram one way and using public transport (buses and taxis), this could hurt the Company quite badly

Anyway for the time being it is not going to affect me given I have been using “my method” since 2011 but perhaps many people will start analyzing the fact that the reason to go to the Peak is for the view and the Peak Tram is simply a means of transport and there are plenty of transport options and iconic or not, they are pricing themselves out of the market, with this new shift to pricing based on the Peak Tram being a tourist attraction rather than public transport.

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The Peak Tram Hong Kong | Pricing chart 2011 - 2026 | Hong Kong

Sometimes preparing a chart is a very simple way to make a point look crystal clear,

I decided to use 2011 as a starting point as this is when I did my first private tour, (I started promoting my business in mid 2010) and you can see quite clearly pricing up until 2018 | 2019 was just fine, the one way price for an adult was not much more than a public bus.

Covid changed everything but NOT the timetable to revamp the entire Peak Tram Experience and basically to pay for the upgrade they raised the prices for tickets by 125% for a single ticket and 70% fir a return ticket and since 2022 we have had now another 2 additional price increases

Now the Peak Tram Company marketing machine uses some pretty straight forward reasons for the huge increases from 2022 - 2026

an enhanced user experience
a new tram that holds 210 people up from 120
a totally new | revamped terminal at the Garden Road Terminus (where you get on to go up to Victoria Peak) which can now hold 1,300 in air - conditioned comfort

The key point is “enhanced user experience”

Well this major upgrade finished in 2022 has absolutely changed the user experience but in my universe, the experience is so much worse going up and coming down

I have written many blog posts about the Peak Tram experience in particular focusing on the length of time you spend queueing to actually get on the Tram

This is the complete opposite to their blurb in 2022 where they hinted that lines would be a thing of the past with the tram capacity almost doubling, in a nutshell it did not happen, the lines to go up can be mind numbing and frustrating and then then the real kick in the teeth, they heavily promote skip the line tickets booked online but if 500+ people buy these tickets you are still going to have to wait for a long time, it is simple mathematics given the frequency of the tram and the actual tram capacity

It gets worse, the tram terminus at the Peak Tower at Victoria Peak has essentially NOT changed at all, it only takes approx. 120 people and already you are forced to stand outside which in hot, humid and rainy weather is just nasty

They can get at best I reckon get about 100 people on the platform and another 20 - 25 people in the waiting area where you can buy tickets and before you go through the turnstiles

Buying skip the line tickets or the outrageously priced ruby pass is meaningless, yes, you can skip the line outside but NOT inside, once you go through the turnstile there could be a 100 people waiting and generally there are only 2 staff on duty and they do not escort you to the front of the line.

So in a nutshell, the rather bold claim that you have an enhanced user experience is nonsense, waiting is no fun at all particularly in a rowdy crowd of people all wanting the best seats on the tram and the capacity of the tram maybe 210 people but

• 167 people can be seated

• 43 people have to stand

and it sucks to pay such a high price and you have to stand, it is a distinctly unpleasant experience

So my advice, do what i do, go up to Victoria Peak by bus ot taxi (both really interesting experiences) and come down on the Tram, preferably before 2pm on a weekday and 12pm on a weekend and think very carefully about buying skip the line tickets, it is not what it seems and not worth the price.

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All Visitor Arrivals | 2003 - 2025 The % of Mainland Chinese Visitors | Hong Kong

Visitor Arrivals from Mainland China to Hong Kong (2003–2025)

Based on data from the Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB), Census and Statistics Department (C&SD), and related official sources, below is a table summarizing the annual visitor arrivals from Mainland China, total visitor arrivals to Hong Kong, and the percentage of Mainland Chinese visitors for each year. Numbers are in millions for readability (rounded to three decimal places where applicable). Data for 2025 is an estimate, derived from Jan–Nov provisional figures (Mainland: 34.479 million; total: 45.249 million) and year-on-year growth trends (11% for Mainland, ~10% overall to align with the HKTB's full-year target of ~49 million total arrivals)

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Comparison | The NP 360 Cable Car vs The Peak Tram | Hong Kong

The Peak Tram has shifted from pricing based on a public transport model to pricing for a tourist attraction model

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Tripadvisor Reviews | Far to many poor reviews for the Peak Tram | Hong Kong

I have had discussions with my friends in the Industry, who all operate Private Tour Companies., 12 points of view threw up some interesting comments,

In a nutshell, as soon as I got the comparison of the pricing between the Peak Tram and the NP 360 Cable Car my friends saw the “trend” immediately, it is hiding in plain site and it so obvious.

The Peak Tram has been around since 1888 and has always been classed as Public Transport, when tourism started to take off back in the day (the late 1960's) a trip to the Peak became a must do experience but it was a slow process that literally did not take hold until 2003.

The price for the Tram one way, was even in 2018 (when we had 65 million visitors) not much more than taking a public bus to the Peak, HK$28 one way for an adult

It just so happens that Covid gave the Peak Tram Company a once in a lifetime opportunity to totally overhaul, not just the tram cars and tracks and such but also the pricing which was dirt cheap compared to the NP 360 Cable Car.

So the overhaul happened during Covid and was completed in mid 2022 (myself and some of my friends where on the first journey of the new trams!) The overhaul cost close to US$100 Million and management saw the opportunity, with new everything and promoting an enhanced experience.

Someone in management also made the crucial decision to shift away completely from public transport pricing to tourist attraction pricing and given the huge numbers of tourists that ride the Peak Tram, it was a no brainer.

From the first drawing on the board the NP 360 Cable Car on Lantau Island was conceived as a tourist attraction in its own right so from day 1 in 2006 it had premium price levels (and the NP 360 Cable Car is operated by the MTR our subway company) it also has no competition other than basically public buses

The Peak Tram has been around since 1888 so its iconic status is written in stone but I feel that the Peak Tram Company is raising the prices too much and too fast and rather than an enhanced experience it is now a problem experience, one of the key points is the Peak Tram is only an actual 8 minute ride, the NP 360 Cable Car is 25 minutes gliding through mountains so to speak, you are not guaranteed a seat on the Peak Tram going up and down and standing in line is a blood sport like a rugby scrum and they did not resolve the terminus issues at the Peak Tower at Victoria Peak, which translates to if there are more than 100 people in the line you are queueing outside in the heat, humidity and rain and not to mention the cold weather in our winter

Basically I am one of the few Private Tour Guides that will only ever do the Peak Tram one way (going down) I do not buy tickets on llne and I never have an issue with my policy - I still love the Peak Tram bur for a lot of people it is a miserable experience and now a very expensive experience.

I should point out that I have the same policy with the NP 360 Cable Car, one way only (and never going up) I come down in the late afternoon and always manage to avoid the crowds! Works for me!

Some more background information

Yes, based on historical records and industry observations in Hong Kong's tourism sector, it's entirely fair to characterize the Ngong Ping 360 (NP360) Cable Car as purpose-built from the ground up as a tourist attraction when it opened in 2006 (construction began around 2005), while the Peak Tram indeed originated as a practical public transport system in 1888 before evolving slowly into an iconic draw for visitors over the decades.

To break it down:

Peak Tram's origins and evolution: It was Asia's first funicular railway, initially designed to provide efficient uphill access for colonial residents and officials to the elite residential areas on Victoria Peak, which were developing in the late 19th century as a cooler retreat from the city's heat. At the time, Hong Kong was a burgeoning British colony, and the tram addressed a real transportation need—replacing sedan chairs carried by coolies—rather than being conceived as a leisure experience. Over the 20th century, as global tourism boomed and the Peak became synonymous with panoramic views of the harbor and skyline, the tram gradually shifted toward catering to sightseers. By the mid-20th century, with improvements like electrification in 1926 and post-WWII renovations, it had morphed into a must-do attraction, especially after the 1970s tourism surge in Asia. Today, it's marketed heavily as an "iconic" ride, with bundled tickets for the Peak Tower and Sky Terrace, reflecting how infrastructure can pivot to tourism when a location gains cultural cachet. This is a common pattern in urban transport history—think of San Francisco's cable cars, which started as commuter lines in the 1870s but survived largely due to tourist appeal.
NP360's premise as a tourist project: In contrast, the NP360 was explicitly developed as part of a major tourism initiative to revitalize Lantau Island's attractions, connecting Tung Chung to Ngong Ping Village near the Tian Tan Buddha and Po Lin Monastery. Launched by the MTR Corporation (with government backing), it was branded from the start as "Ngong Ping 360" to emphasize the 360-degree views and experiential elements, like the optional crystal-bottom cabins for thrill-seekers. The project was marketed as Hong Kong's "most exciting new tourist development," aimed at drawing visitors to less-visited areas and boosting eco-tourism with minimal environmental disruption. This aligns with 21st-century trends in destination marketing, where cable cars (e.g., Singapore's Sentosa or London's Emirates Air Line) are engineered as attractions first, transport second, to monetize scenic routes and integrate with themed villages or cultural sites.

From an industry perspective, this distinction highlights how older colonial-era infrastructure like the Peak Tram often adapts organically to tourism booms, while modern projects like NP360 are investor-driven with clear ROI tied to visitor numbers—evident in its higher base pricing from day one to recoup construction costs. Both now operate in a monopoly-like space for their unique experiences, but the Peak Tram's "morphing" has arguably given it more authentic heritage appeal, even as prices rise. If tourism patterns shift toward value-seeking post-pandemic, alternatives like buses or taxis could challenge both, but their iconic statuses keep them somewhat resilient.