Running from Garden Road Admiralty to Victoria Peak via the Mid-Levels, it provides the most direct route and offers good views over the harbour and skyscrapers of Hong Kong.

The line has two pronounced curves, one to the left immediately after leaving the lower terminus, and the other to the right in the upper half of the ascent.

The original station was incorporated into St. John's Building, an office tower, with the tram terminus at the ground level.

Travelling extensively in Europe and America, he made himself conversant with nearly every existing method of railway employed for mountain ascent — San Francisco, Scarborough, Rigi, Monterey, Lucerne, the Rhine, Mount Vesuvius — and returned to Hong Kong thoroughly convinced of the feasibility of his idea.

Most of the heavy equipment and rails needed for the construction were hauled uphill by the workers with no mechanical support.

[5] As a revolutionary new form of transport for Asia at the time, the tramway was considered a marvel of engineering upon its completion.

[5] According to photographs, the Garden Road terminus was originally an unadorned building, a large clock face was added to the edifice probably between the 1910s and 1920s.

The Peak Tram was opened for public service on 28 May 1888 by the then governor Sir George William des Voeux.

[6] The fares had risen 50 per cent by 1926[citation needed] - they are now HKD108 return and HKD76 single after a significant rise in December 2024.

Two cars, one from both previous generations, can be seen on a disused spur track that led to the former tram depot near the Kennedy Road station.

An additional fourth generation car is displayed near the upper terminal, now serving as a Tourism Board Information Center.

At that period, Peak Tramways Company Limited hired a consultant to study how to improve the Peak Tram terminal and facilities to increase the available space, also considering re-laying tracks and to renovate the cable car cabins to increase the passenger capacity.

During this period, due to the expansion and renovation of the Garden Road Terminus, passengers used the temporary platform and queue outside the station.

The government stated that the entire development plan invested more than 700 million Hong Kong dollars.

After a closure of 14 months, the tram was reopened on 27 August 2022, though tourist numbers in Hong Kong are a fraction of their pre-COVID levels.

It commenced with the lighting-up of the Eye of Infinity, a 10-metre-tall sculpture at the Central Terminus by Australian artist Lindy Lee, a commission that was part of the overall project.

The station building is a striking open structure featuring semi-circular arches topping its columns, and has classical and Art Deco influences.

There is a cantilevered canopy on the Barker Road side which is believed to have originally been a coolie shelter for sedan chair and rickshaw bearers.