HONG KONG - This city has one of the world's most highly regarded subway systems, with spotless stations, cellphone service on trains and even computers with free Internet access on some platforms. Getting from one side of Hong Kong Island to the other takes a mere 25 minutes for the 13-kilometer journey on trains that have a 99.9 percent on-time record.

The subways of the Mass Transit Railway system, called the M.T.R. for short, were once thought to augur the death knell for a much slower and less comfortable mode of transport above ground: the century-old Hong Kong tram, which snakes slowly through the city's heavy traffic, its passengers suffering through the tropical humidity without the air-conditioning that cools the underground transit network.

But the trams are holding their own.

Hong Kong's trams draw 200,000 riders a day for about 30 cents a ride, about half the cost of the fast, air-conditioned subway. Photographs by Lam Yik Fei for The New York Times

"I take the tram very often - it's convenient, economical and efficient," said Derik Wong, 42, who works in the food and beverage industry and takes the tram 5 to 10 times a week. "If you plan your time well, the tram's speed is not a problem."

Called the ding-dings by locals for their pedestrian warning bells, the trams draw 200,000 riders a day for a price of 2.30 Hong Kong dollars, or 30 cents, a ride, regardless of distance traveled. Seniors pay half price. By comparison, fares on the subways of the M.T.R., which carries 5.1 million passengers a day, range from 4.10 to 7.50 Hong Kong dollars, or 53 to 97 cents, on the Island line.

But just as important is the ease of the on-and-off commute on an island with a dense string of business and retail districts along its northern coast.

The trams may be old and slow, with typical speeds of 10 kilometers an hour, but their popularity shows how, in this ever-modernizing city, old habits survive. The 109-year-old system is privately run by a French operator and does not receive any money from the local government.

"We're very representative of Hong Kong," said Emmanuel Vivant, the general manager of the system. "The old and the young use us. And a lot of white-collar people take trams during lunchtime," shuttling, for instance, from the city's financial towers to restaurants in nearby neighborhoods for meals.

The tram operator, Veolia Transport, has enough confidence in the trams' place in Hong Kong that it is investing about $20 million to update the system, mainly with more durable aluminum cars to replace the wooden ones. The new cars are designed to last five times longer - up to 20 years - before they need an overhaul.

Still, the trams face increasing challenges from the well-financed M.T.R. To compete, Veolia must rely on some innovative ways to eke out money, not only by leasing billboards on the sides of the cars, but also by renting out antique trams for party rides.

The system was Hong Kong Island's first mode of mass transit, and the city ran into public resistance when it considered eliminating it in the 1980s.

"Trams are a symbol of Hong Kong," said Peter Wong, 59, a retiree who said he had been taking them "since I was a kid."

The cost is hard to criticize.

"I don't mind trams are not air-conditioned, because it's good value for the money," Mr. Wong said as he waited for a tram at Western Market. "You can't demand everything with such a low fare. Also, Hong Kong culture is preserved in trams."

Grace Tsoi contributed reporting.

The New York Times

(China Daily 10/27/2013 page10)