Admiralty Station (MTR)

Admiralty 金鐘
MTR rapid transit station
Platform 2
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese	金鐘
Simplified Chinese	金钟
Literal meaning	Golden Bell
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Jīnzhōng Yue: Cantonese Jyutping gam1 zung1 Yale Romanization gam1 jung1
General information
Location	Drake Street × Tamar Street, Admiralty Central and Western District, Hong Kong
Coordinates	22°16′44″N 114°09′53″E / 22.2788°N 114.1646°E / 22.2788; 114.1646Coordinates: 22°16′44″N 114°09′53″E / 22.2788°N 114.1646°E / 22.2788; 114.1646
Owned by	MTR Corporation
Operated by	MTR Corporation
Line(s)	Tsuen Wan Line      Island Line
Platforms	4 (island platforms)
Connections	Bus, public light bus, tram
Construction
Structure type	Underground
Platform levels	2
Disabled access	Yes
Other information
Station code	ADM
History
Opened	12 February 1980 (1980-02-12) (Kwun Tong Line) 31 May 1985 (1985-05-31) (Island Line)
Opening	End of December 2016[1] (South Island Line) 2021 (2021) (North South Corridor)
Services
Preceding station   MTR   Following station Central Terminus Tsuen Wan Line Tsim Sha Tsui towards Tsuen Wan Central towards Kennedy Town Island Line Wan Chai towards Chai Wan   Future services   Terminus South Island Line Ocean Park towards South Horizons North South Corridor of the Sha Tin to Central Link Exhibition towards Lo Wu or Lok Ma Chau
Location
Admiralty Location within the MTR system

Admiralty (Chinese: 金鐘) is an MTR station located on Hong Kong Island, in an area often referred to as Admiralty. The station's livery is blue. The station connects the Tsuen Wan Line with the Island Line in cross-platform interchange type. Before the opening of the Tsuen Wan branch line in 1982, it was part of the Kwun Tong Line.

The station is named after HMS Tamar (a place of land now known as the Tamar site), once the headquarters of the Royal Navy in Hong Kong - this, even though HMS Tamar had never actually been called the Admiralty. It was built on the former site of the Hong Kong naval dockyards, which was built in 1878 and demolished in the 1970s.

Currently, the station is undergoing major expansion to accommodate two new sets of platforms for a new station underneath it. The new Admiralty station will serve two more MTR lines, the South Island Line and the North South Corridor (part of the Sha Tin to Central Link).

History

Development and construction

Track layout
Legend
Upper platforms
to Wan Chai to Tsim Sha Tsui 3 1 L2 (upper) L3 (lower) 4 2 to Central
Lower platforms
6 5 L6 (lowest) to Ocean Park

The Government had given the MTR Corporation first refusal on the 60,000-square-foot (5,600 m²) site, which was subsequently sold to it in 1976 for around HK$200 million for cash and equity consideration.^[2]

The Admiralty Centre, United Centre and Queensway Plaza formed part of development, and sit directly above the station.

On 12 February 1980, the segment of the first MTR line between Central and Tsim Sha Tsui was opened. At the time, Admiralty Station and Central Station were the only two MTR stations on Hong Kong Island.^[3] The platforms began serving the Tsuen Wan Line on 10 May 1982.

Admiralty was always expected to be a transfer station to the Island Line. On 31 May 1985, the first phase of the Island Line (between Admiralty and Chai Wan) was opened, with Admiralty the temporary western terminus of the Island Line. To facilitate cross-platform interchange, the Tsuen Wan- and Chai Wan-bound platforms were located on a very wide island platform on the lower level, while the Central-bound and termination platforms shared another very wide island platform on the upper level. When the second part of the Island Line (Admiralty to Sheung Wan) opened in 1986, the termination platform became the Sheung Wan-bound platform, while the other platforms remained unchanged.^[4]

2004 arson attack

The platforms are wide enough for a very large number of passengers to change trains at the same time

Platform livery

At 9:14 a.m. on 5 January 2004, 14 passengers suffered minor injuries when a delusional 55-year-old man ignited two gas cylinders full of paint thinner in the first compartment of a Central-bound train from Tsim Sha Tsui.^[5] The driver decided to complete the journey and passengers were evacuated from the train in Admiralty.^[6] To date it is the only arson attempt in MTR's history.

Station expansion

Admiralty Station is being expanded to serve two additional lines: the North South Corridor of the Sha Tin to Central Link project on the station's L5 level, and the South Island Line East on its L6 level.^[7] The lines will be complete in 2021 and the end of December 2016^[1] respectively; the opening date of the South Island Line was delayed from 2015 due to technical problems in the deep tunnels for the new platforms. The North South Corridor will allow commuters from the northeast New Territories direct interchange from the East Rail Line,^[8] whereas the South Island Line East will give residents in the Southern District much quicker access to Hong Kong Island's central business district.^[7] A new underground interchange concourse with natural light will be built to the east of the current concourse, taking up one level, allowing passengers to transfer to the new lines. The atrium will also be expanded.

The station expansion, located under Harcourt Garden, will incorporate 34 escalators and five lifts to integrate with the existing station.^[7] The Sha Tin to Central Link will be one level under the interchange concourse, with the South Island Line being directly below it.^[7][8] Exits E1 and E2 are being rebuilt as one exit to accommodate the glass roof of the interchange concourse; this new exit E will not open until the Sha Tin to Central Link platforms open.^[7] While the Sha Tin to Central Link tracks will have sidings for terminating trains south of the station, the South Island Line East tracks will end at bumper blocks north of the station with no overrun track.^[8]

The new station will have two artworks.^[7] The first is Sense of Green by Tony Ip, which will be a new, bamboo-covered landscaped deck over Harcourt Garden.^[7] The second, Urban Soundscape by Otto Li, is located along either side of the escalator shaft between the new and current stations. It will depict passengers' journeys through Admiralty.^[7]

Moreover, in this expansion, the narrowest part of the existing platforms on L3 level will be widened to make better use of the first and second car of the Tsuen Wan Line train, as well as last two car of Island Line trains. Tsuen Wan Line passengers in the Tsuen Wan direction will have easier access to these cars.^[9]

Usage

As the primary interchange station for most Tsuen Wan Line and the Island Line riders, Admiralty is heavily congested during rush hours. Currently, Admiralty and North Point are the only cross-platform interchange stations between Kowloon and Hong Kong Island lines in the entire MTR system. Despite trains departing at capacity (every 2.1 minutes), commuters frequently have to board the second or even the third train when interchanging. The situation has deteriorated following fare cuts due to the MTR–KCR merger.^[10]

Station layout

Admiralty Station has a total of three floors; the uppermost (L1) floor has the fare control, lobby, shops, Customer Service Centre and other major facilities.^[11]

On floor L2, passengers can access Platforms 4 (Tsuen Wan Line to Central) and 3 (Island Line to Chai Wan). One floor down, on level L3, are Platforms 2 (Island Line to Kennedy Town) and 1 (Tsuen Wan Line to Tsuen Wan).^[11]

There are very wide passageways between the two platforms on each floor; they are also curved platforms with trains going in opposite directions. The platforms are in the shape of a trapezium.^[11] Because all the platforms are curved and a major interchange station, there are large stickers in front of the platform screen doors with "Mind the gap" text, which can only be found in this station. Passengers travelling from Eastern District and Wan Chai District can walk across to platform 1 to board the Tsuen Wan Line trains bound for West Kowloon, Kwai Chung and Tsuen Wan. Passengers travelling from West Kowloon, Kwai Chung and Tsuen Wan can walk across and board the Island line trains bound for Chai Wan from platform 3.^[11]

Entrances and exits

Admiralty is part of the Central Business District of Hong Kong Island. There are many office buildings around the station. A major shopping mall, Pacific Place, is accessed through a pedestrian walkway from Exit F.^[12]

• A: Admiralty Centre
• B: Bus to Ocean Park
• C1: Queensway Plaza
• C2: Taxi stand
• D: United Centre
• F: Pacific Place

Transport connections

There is a bus terminus stretching across the length of Admiralty that can be reached from exits B, C2 and D. These buses connect to many different parts of Hong Kong Island, Kowloon and the New Territories.

Bus routes

• Bus
  • KMB, serving only cross-harbour routes on Hong Kong Island
  • First Bus
  • Citybus
  • Bus terminuses within walking distance of the station:
    • Admiralty (West) - Exit B
    • Admiralty (Tamar Street) - Exit B
    • Admiralty (Drake St) - Exit C2
    • Admiralty (East) - Exit D
    • Admiralty (Rodney St) - between Exit D

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Admiralty Station.